Throughout regional Australia there are a host of small communities that are struggling. Some because of the demise of the small agriculture unit, the drift of young people to the large urban areas, too much rain, too little rain, life style changes, industries that succeed or fail, and the list goes on. Some communities are blessed with industries which generate employment, wealth creation for the town and the underpinning of a broader range of community services. The success of those industries often governs the distance to the knife-edge.

And, there are a few communities that have been over the knife edge many times yet survive, somewhat scarred but stronger. Blayney is one such community.

Despite the closure of a major abattoir at one time employing 620 people, a gold mine that flooded with the loss of some 60 jobs and a sheep skin processor transferring to New Zealand leaving over 50 people without employment, Blayney has survived through the concerted efforts of the Council guided by Ray Hornery.

Cadia Ridgeway Gold and Copper Mine

Newcrest Mining Ltd, a major Australian mining company has developed the Cadia Gold and copper open cut and underground in a relatively closely settled rural community 30kms from Blayney. The project is mining a world-class deposit of gold and copper on a massive scale. In 2003, the $726m project mined 676,387oz of gold and 67,738 tonnes of copper.

Naturally there has been a significant impact on the local community in particular and the regional community in general.

Ray Hornery chaired the Award winning planning steering committee for the Cadia open cut project which developed the community enhance program process through negotiations with the local community and the mining company. The company agreed to a range of enhancement projects costing some $5m. The process has now been embraced by the State Government as a blueprint for major project consents.  

Blayney Windfarm

The western slopes of the Great Diving Range in New South Wales has wind patterns that suit the development of wind turbines for the generation of electricity. Eraring Energy owns 15 towers to the south of Blayney generating 10mW of energy for the national Grid.

In 2002, an international company commenced investigations for the construction of 150 wind towers in the same locality as the current towers, all to be located on private land. In his role as General Manager Ray Hornery provided assistance to the company in their negotiations with the landholders. To ensure his Council was fully informed on the impacts of such a large development and to advise on the potential economic benefits of the proposal, he travelled to Spain to meet with the Company principals and Spanish regional government officials.  

Blayney Sea-Link

Blayney Sea-Link is a major cold store warehousing operation currently employing 80 people, with expectations that the project will grow to employing 250 people. Currently most of Australia’s frozen sweet corn, peas, broccoli, carrots and fish is stored at Blayney for processing at Bathurst. In addition some 5 million chickens and turkeys are stored on contract for one of Australia’s major poultry producers. The company also distributes chilled chickens to major outlets such as Coles, Woolworths and Kentucky Fried Chicken in the western region of NSW. The Blayney Sea-Link site has a rail frontage of approximately 1.5kms and negotiations are in progress to develop a publicly accessible rail siding. Blayney Sea-Link will be developed as a site where product can either be manufactured or stored capitalising on the principle of fourth party logistics.

Ray Hornery has given a significant amount of his time to developing the links with both State and Federal governments and business, negotiating development grants and guiding the project through the bureaucratic maze of government. The project will bring very diversified employment opportunities, an essential ingredient to the survival of a small community.