Issues

The main three issues for Human Settlements in Tumut were:

• Community wellbeing

• Physical infrastructure, facilities and services

• Waste

Background

Tumut Shire is uniquely situated in the Australian Capital Region—sustaining a mix of agricultural, forestry, conservation and significant water resources that supply the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area.

There were three Aboriginal tribes that occupied in part and shared the area—the Walgalu, the Wiradjuri and the Nunawol. The area was believed to be a junction of these three tribal areas.

Europeans began to settle the area soon after 1824, and cleared the land to grow maize, wheat and to establish a dairy industry. A later discovery, gold, formed a vital secondary industry for some time.

The main townships in the Shire include Tumut, Talbingo, Batlow and Adelong. Each is famous in its own right: Batlow for horticultural crop production, Adelong for its rich gold-mining history, Talbingo for the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electricity Scheme and for recreational fishing and Tumut for its combination of timber processing industries and horticultural production. A large proportion of the Shire is also used for sheep and cattle grazing, forming another important component of the Shire economy.

Withdrawal of land from private ownership in the form of dams, land for plantation forests and National Park has had a significant effect on rate income to Local Government and agricultural potential, although a benefit has been a diversity in employment and tourism.

The new Visy Pulp and Paper Mill is expected to have regional impact on transport, employment, infrastructure provision and the continued development of softwood plantations.