GREENS candidate for Oxley, Dominic King, has thrown his support behind the re-establishment of a neighbourhood centre in the Nambucca Valley.

The Nambucca Valley currently does not have a funded Neighbourhood Centre, the only Local Government Area (LGA) in the Oxley electorate where this is the case, with the last-existing centre closing in 2012 in Nambucca Heads.

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Support has been building within the community, with a Steering Committee set up to drive the project in mid-2022.

Mr King recently met with members of the committee to hear their vision for what a re-established neighbourhood centre could offer the Nambucca Valley.

“Neighbourhood centres are critical pieces of social infrastructure that provide local based support for the community and the most vulnerable people in NSW,” said Mr King.

“They in many cases provide the most effective link between the community and the numerous government and private service providers that deliver assistance in times of serious need such as pandemics and disasters.

“The Greens fully support the reinstatement of a fully funded Neighbourhood Centre network that would service the towns of Nambucca, Macksville, Bowraville and surrounds.”

According to Mr King, NSW is one of the few states or territories that neither recognises the importance of, and does not provide ongoing funding for, Neighbourhood Centres.

Mr King said he supports a 4-Point plan from the Local Community Services Associatiom (LCSA), the national body that represents Neighbourhood Centres across Australia, to strengthen these centres across NSW.

“We are calling on the NSW Government to recognise Neighbourhood and Community Centres (NCC) as essential social infrastructure and appropriately resource them through our 4-Point Plan,” a LCSA spokesperson said.

The plan includes:
1. A formal partnership between the NSW Government and Local Community Services Association enshrining place-based consultation with NCCs and collaboration on community development, health, education, the environment, social planning and transport.

2. An annual Social Infrastructure Investment of $51,238,250 comprising $292,790 per NCC each year; and a one-off $5,000,000 Community Investment Fund to which organisations can apply to either top up their baseline funding or create new NCCs.

3. A one-off Loneliness Investment Fund of $3,680,000.

4. Fund two dedicated positions at LCSA to support capacity building of the sector.