Program aims to Tackle Shortage of Women in the Property Industry

The Property Council of Australia’s, 'Girls in Property Program' has kicked off in the Hunter for the first time today. 

Fifty female year nine students from Hunter River High and St Pius X High School in the Hunter, will be exploring the in’s and outs of the property industry, taking part in the program which brings together some of the biggest property companies in NSW. 

The program aims to inspire more young girls to choose property as a career, with currently only 28% of leadership roles within the industry held by women.  

The day hopes to inform young girls about the extremely diverse range of careers and roles available within the property sector. 

"We really want to open up the conversation and talk to these girls about the myriad of different roles that they can access within the property industry," Mrs. Hugo said. 

"It's not just about construction and it's not just about engineering. There are professional services, there's architecture, there's planning, there are so many different areas that they could be looking at and so many more opportunities if they just knew what was available" 

During the day the girls will hear from women leaders in the property industry, develop real-life projects to represent their schools, and learn more about university education options related to property. 

"Relative to other industries there's so much more room to grow in terms of participation in diversity and sometimes its a case of 'you don't know, what you don't know'," Mrs. Hugo said. 

"Today they'll be talking to people about their journey and experiences and they'll start work on some really exciting processes that they need to be involved in." 

                               Image Source: Property Council of Australia 

Property Council Meeting Discuss Future Visions

BY KYLE CARROLL

Leaders from across the Hunter are discussing opportunities for regional growth at today's Property Council meeting at NEX.

Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes and Port Stephens Mayor Ryan Palmer will be joined by council representatives from Lake Macquarie and the Central Coast to discuss their visions for the regions' future.

Regional Director, Anita Hugo says it will look at how councils can work better together.

"local government engaging with regional stakeholders, it will be about the challenges going forward in terms of potential infrastructure or community needs," she said.

Also on the agenda, the panel will also look at the potential challenges of cross-regional growth.'

"We want to look at the challenges and opportunities of each area and how do we create better communities by working together," Anita said.

NEX Image: Wests

Property Council calls out "petty politics"

BY LAUREN FREEMANTLE

Concerns over Newcastle City Council's Labor-Greens alliance have been expressed by the Property Council of Australia's Hunter branch.

The concerns come following a decision made at last night's Council meeting to delay community consultation on the former rail corridor until a report detailing traffic and public transport data is made available for viewing.

According to the Property Council, it is the second time in two weeks that the same voting bloc has held up progress for the Newcastle CBD- referring to Council's refusal two weeks ago to pitch-in funding for a 30-unit affordable housing project aimed at 'key workers.'

Hunter Director of the Property Council, Andrew Fletcher, says the Labor-Greens alliance are delaying progress in order to side-step community consultation and avoid contention in the lead-up to this year's local government election.

"With local government elections coming up in September this year, it smacks of delaying tactics.
It would appear that there are a number of councillors who just don't want to have any contention before the elections, they'd like to see some clear political air.

"It's nothing more than scoring cheap political points at a time when their civic duty is to maintain momentum in transforming the city centre."

The Property Council have also taken aim at Lord Mayor, Nuatali Nelmes' decision to remove support for UrbanGrowth NSW's affordable housing proposal after voting for it in October last year.

"It's difficult to understand the Lord Mayor's position...It's just impossible to understand why, when the state government is willing to throw close to $20 million into public domain improvements along the foreshore and in the CBD, why Council would snub their nose at that kind of investment just beggars belief."

Artist's impression of affordable housing along the former rail corridor. Image source: Newcastle Herald. 

Hunter Director of the Property Council of Australia, Andrew Fletcher.