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Economic Development Projects
Last modified: July 3, 2009 - 3:10 PM
Economic Development Projects in Walgett Shire
Lightning Ridge Australian Opal Centre is a world-class national museum facility being developed in Walgett Shire. The Centre will preserve, display, research and interpret the world’s greatest public collection of gem opal and globally significant opalised fossils from the nearby opal fields. The Centre will explore and celebrate the distinctive heritage and social history of ‘the Ridge’ – including the lives and achievements of the area’s Aboriginal people, the town’s remarkable and harmonious multiculturalism, and the extraordinary lives of the opal miners.
The Centre will be a catalyst for economic and community cultural development and a national facility for education and research. It will be a major tourism hub in north-western New South Wales and an international tourism asset, drawing visitors from coastal tourism
hot-spots then dispersing them through the community and beyond, into the outback.
It will offer employment and skill development opportunities for residents of Walgett Shire. Alongside major permanent exhibitions, it will house community facilities including a cinema, cafe, meeting and teaching spaces and a gallery for exhibitions and performances generated both locally and elsewhere.The Australian Opal Centre will make an unprecedented contribution to the local economy through awareness of Lightning Ridge and Walgett Shire, and recognition of the area’s assets. The centre will serve the broader community as a dynamic hub for tourism, education and commerce, seeking to strengthen and support other industries and enterprises.The board of management for Australian Opal Centre is developing strong links with Federal and NSW State Government departments, the University of New South Wales, Museums & Galleries NSW and other organisations active in tourism, the opal industry, museums and heritage, in order to advance the design, planning and operative proposals for this facility. Local partnerships are being developed.
Contact details
Walgett Shire council
admin@walgett.nsw.gov.au
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