One councillor is proposing a social media ad campaign to encourage city dwellers to relocate to the Shoalhaven.
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At the next Shoalhaven City Council ordinary meeting on Tuesday, October 27 Cr Andrew Guile has submitted a motion for the CEO to prepare a suitable budget and funding source to undertake the digital marketing campaign.
Cr Guile said council needed to get on the "front foot".
"[We need to] say to people in residential and business markets close to us that the Shoalhaven is a place they really should be relocating to," he said.
"Because it will benefit their business, their lifestyle, their family.
"There is not a lot of people playing in the space, although I'm aware other regional councils around us are also looking at this."
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He said there would be challenges to an increase in population but the North Moss Vale Road housing precinct would help increase capacity.
"We brought that priority up to ensure we do have the capacity to deal with housing growth into the future," Cr Guile said.
"There are some challenges - we all know the congestion we experience around holiday times, and that's now every other weekend not just during school holidays.
"The infrastructure is not going to keep up with that but if you wait for infrastructure to be delivered then what you do is lose control generally of your growth - you need to pursue a strategy of growth in population as well as growth in infrastructure."
It is expected the budget for the social media campaign could cost around $20,000.
Cr Guile said the budget is modest.
"In the scope of council's budget whether its $10,000, $15,000 or $20,000 that's not a lot of money for conducting such a campaign and it's really quite cost effective."