A drought planning program is underway in regional New South Wales. It is designed to enable small consortia of local governments (and their communities) to better prepare for, respond to and recover from drought.

The project is jointly funded through Australian Government's Future Drought Fund and the NSW Government. The program will support selected councils to develop their regional drought plan and small grants that support implementation of the plan.

Councils have been grouped into consortia primarily based on their Functional Economic Region boundaries. This consortia consists of Bathurst Regional Council, Lithgow City Council and Oberon Council.

This consortia was successful in receiving grant funds to produce a regional drought plan, focussing on the role of local government in building drought resilience.

A second round of funding has been received to implement these plans. The consortium is seeking applications to enable the following strategy: Enabling Agritourism through the Provision of Clearer Processes and Local Guidance.

Bathurst Regional Council, Lithgow City Council and Oberon Council (the consortia) require an independent consultant to develop the products required to Enabling Agritourism through the Provision of Clearer Processes and Local Guidance in the consortium Councils.

Diversifying on-farm income allows landholders to improve their financial position prior to drought, and to provide supplementary income when faced with drought impacts.

This initiative proposes tailored guidance around agritourism opportunities via flowcharts and toolkits to help landholders navigate complex planning requirements, and simultaneously enhance Council staff capacity.

This will boost our tourism offerings and the long-term sustainability of farming enterprises.