Welcome to our podcast page. We’re excited to share a new podcast series, direct from Regional Development Australia Yorke and Mid North, Regional Futures.
Regional Futures is a four-part podcast series exploring the challenges and opportunities shaping regional South Australia. From housing and water to childcare and economic diversification, our host Annabelle Homer speaks with people on the ground about what’s standing in the way of regional growth, and what can be done about it.
Real stories, practical solutions, and the power of collaboration.
Regional Futures is produced by RDA Yorke and Mid North and hosted by Annabelle Homer.
To listen to the Regional Futures podcast series
Regional Futures - Episode 1
A place to call home - addressing the regional housing dilemma
In this first episode of Regional Futures, we explore the housing dilemma facing the Yorke and Mid North region of South Australia and ask a deceptively simple question, if the demand is there, why aren’t we building more homes?
We explore:
- Why regional housing demand is increasing.
- The infrastructure and development costs holding projects back.
- Why the economics of building in regional communities can be very different to metropolitan Adelaide.
- How housing shortages affect businesses, families and essential services.
- The role of government incentives in unlocking stalled developments.
- How councils, developers, government, industry and
- Regional Development Australia can work together to find practical solutions.
Guests:
Rachel Lawrie – Principal, Stadium Real Estate
Andrew Christiansen – Manager, Renewal SA – Office for Regional Housing Superintendent
Mark Syrus – South Australia Police – Yorke Mid North Region.
Regional Futures - Episode 2
A man is not a camel – the need for water reform to enable growth in regional South Australia.
There’s land ready to develop, businesses wanting to invest and families looking to move to regional South Australia, but there’s one thing standing in the way.
In this episode of Regional Futures, we look at how ageing and constrained water infrastructure is holding back housing and economic growth across the Yorke and Mid North.
We unpack why getting water to a new development can be such a long and expensive process, who pays for the infrastructure, and why developers say greater certainty is desperately needed.
We explore:
- Why water capacity is already limiting development in some regional communities
- How developers are being asked to fund major infrastructure upgrades
- Why regional projects can take years to get off the ground
- How changing capacity advice can put developments at risk
- Why better planning and risk sharing could help unlock regional growth
- The role RDA Yorke and Mid North is playing in bringing developers, councils, government and utilities together.
This episode features:
Mayor Roslyn Talbot, Copper Coast Council and Board Member, RDA Yorke and Mid North
Frank Lepore, Head of Strategic Projects, Leipzig Australia
Frank Vounasis, Founder & CEO, Leipzig Australia
Daniel Willson, CEO, Regional Development Australia Yorke and Mid North.
Regional Futures - Episode 3
Precious little things: the imperative of expanding access to childcare in regional areas
For many regional families, finding childcare isn’t just difficult, sometimes there simply isn’t any.
In this episode of Regional Futures, we look at what happens when families can’t access childcare, from parents unable to return to work, to businesses struggling to find staff, to communities missing out on new families altogether.
We explore:
- Why some regional communities are considered childcare “deserts”
- The flow-on effects for families, businesses and regional economies
- Why attracting childcare providers to smaller towns can be so difficult
- The funding and workforce challenges facing regional services
- How community advocacy and partnerships can turn an idea into reality
- What RDA Yorke and Mid North is doing to help communities find practical childcare solutions
This episode features:
Mikayla Magor, Chair, Crystal Brook Childcare Working Group
Amanda Redden, Project Coordinator, Regional Development Australia Yorke and Mid North
Caren Hammerstein, Director, Kadina Child Care Centre