Nationals unveil 'Our Vision for Regional Communities' plan for NSW, and housing is the key

Solutions. People. Pillars.

In Dubbo on Tuesday, those three words seemed to fit the bill. And it looks like we'll hear plenty about all three in the lead-up to next year's state election too.

The Nationals unveiled its blueprint for regional NSW at Dubbo's Western Plains Cultural Centre this week. It's being called 'Our Vision for Regional Communities'.

Deputy premier Paul Toole led the chorus by saying "our vision recognises that regional communities are diverse and need local solutions that work for them - and that's what we'll deliver".

Their plan to come good with that delivery hinges on "four pillars", Mr Toole added.

They are: Healthcare, education, communities and places and regional housing.

Tuesday's announcement highlighted a number of key points for healthcare, education and communities and places, but perhaps the most important pillar out of the lot could have done with a little more attention.

You could argue pretty easily housing is the foundation for this entire plan, not just a pillar.

Without a clear and definitive strategy - a solution, if that's what it needs to be called - to address the housing issues in regional NSW, the Nationals' vision for the bush isn't built on the billions of dollars worth of "bricks, mortar and concrete" Mr Toole spruiked on Tuesday, instead it will resemble nothing more than a house of cards.

Without adequate housing we can't welcome any of the new doctors or nurses regional health minister Bronnie Taylor spoke about when launching a $5 million scholarship program to recruit healthcare professionals to regional NSW.

Without more affordable housing the record investment in getting teachers to regional communities, and implementing a universal pre-kindergarten services in the bush, education minister Sarah Mitchell touched on almost seems like the unattainable dream.

While emergency services minister Steph Cooke's speech about billions of dollars being injected into flood recovery in NSW would be hard to swallow for those in Eugowra currently battling insurance companies just to fetch a small portion of their home's value.

Those communities - those people, as the Nationals would call them - have lost everything. Housing is the only issue that's impacting them right now. And it'll stay that way for months to come.

They're not alone, either.

The deputy premier said in the last five years more than 180,000 people had packed up and moved into regional NSW.

That number is expected to increase, too, over the next five years. While some population forecasts point towards a population of 52,000 people in Orange by 2041.

At risk of getting too obvious ... where are they all going to live?

The government previously outlined a $174 million plan to roll-out more homes for teachers, healthcare workers and police officers in the next four years. That's all good and well.

But - here's one of those words again - the solution there can't just be a matter of continuing the rapid sprawl of corrugated iron roofs every which way across the countryside.

The NSW Government must look at adopting a regional housing strategy that lines up with the 21^st century.

Let's go up instead of out. The plan must include more high rise-style living spaces closer to the centre of town.

It must look at more social housing, more single or two bedroom dwellings too.

And, crucially, it has to look at how all of these people moving to regional NSW are going to afford to live in these regional centres. The average price of a home in Orange has skyrocketed in the last three years or so ... is there a plan in place if that continues?

And, as we've seen in the last couple of years, ensuring these new homes are developed in areas that are not in the firing line when regional NSW is inevitably hit with another major flood is another vital element in the planning process.

So while the government absolutely should pin its upcoming election campaign in regional NSW on improving healthcare, beefing up the education sector and delivering more livable communities and places for those in areas like Orange, Bathurst and Dubbo - and our incredible smaller towns in between - a keen focus on regional housing is central to it all.

Tuesday's Our Vision for Regional Communities announcement was the perfect time to let the people - these buzz words are catching on - of regional NSW know the Nationals, and the NSW Government more broadly, can find the solutions required to ensure the pillars that make the bush a great place to "work, live and thrive" can stand the test of time.

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