That’s the strong assessment made by Berrigan Shire general manager Rowan Perkins on the future of the towns.
Mr Perkins said with a sharp decline in the Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) from seven to three between 2001 and 2016 the Berrigan-Finley communities cannot afford to drop any more.
He said the decline in SEIFA was caused not just from the Murray Darling Basin Plan but also other factors including drought, structural changes in the 1990s and early 2000s and social changes.
Berrigan-Finley’s SEIFA decline is the biggest drop of any Basin community.
‘‘A one point drop on SEIFA is significant but to drop four points is serious,’’ Mr Perkins said.
‘‘However, the Murray Darling Basin Plan is just one reason; a lot (of the decline) is to do with things outside our control.
‘‘The people in these towns don’t control drought or the high use of the internet — which some argue has caused the retail industry to decline and many shops to close.
‘‘These changes can be attributed to job losses and population decline.
‘‘The town with the main problems is Finley. Berrigan is much the same but it’s a smaller cohesive community.’’
The Southern Riverina News believes the Berrigan Shire is targeting five keys projects including aged care, freight, food and beverage, and education as a way to create more jobs and investment.
The Berrigan Shire with the help of government funding plans to invest $14.6 million over three years into those industries and has the potential to create more than 103 jobs.
Mr Perkins said the drive for change must start from community leaders on how to move their respective towns into different directions.
‘‘What these towns need to consider is how the main street is run, providing government services, food and other essential services.
‘‘One example of change can come from the local farmers.
‘‘If they decided ‘let’s stop growing rice because it’s too expensive and grow corn’ then that would also effect stock and station agents with chemicals; or do we have a mill for corn instead of rice?
‘‘Council can set up steps to assist the process but essentially it must come from the people.
‘‘It needs to be ongoing because what happened in the past isn’t working,’’ Mr Perkins said.
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