Jeff Bacon's 10-point plan to tackle social disadvantage in Tamworth

A SMALL shopping centre for Coledale, an extra domestic violence police officer and a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility are all part of Jeff Bacon's plan to tackle social disadvantage in Tamworth

The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers candidate has released his 10-point plan to lift the community with "a hand up, not a hand out".

“It’s easy to stand on the sidelines and throw stones, saying this is how I would fix this or how I would do that, it’s another thing to come up with real solutions” Mr Bacon said.

"These aren’t bandaid ideas, they're real solutions."

Mr Bacon wants to see the Oxley High School's Clontarf program, which engages Aboriginal students and keeps them coming to school with a 90 per cent success rate, rolled out to Peel and Tamworth high schools, with the support of the state government.

"It's enabling the completion of studies with outstanding results - last year, all male students that completed this program found employment," Mr Bacon said.

He also wants to see the city get an additional 25 police officers, along with an Aboriginal police liaison officer.

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“With 14 per cent of Tamworth's population Aboriginal, we have the largest percentage per capita for any regional city in northern NSW," he said.

"We only have one police liaison officer that covers from Tamworth to Narrabri. Areas with much smaller populations are receiving better resources than us."

Mr Bacon said some simple infrastructure projects would make a huge difference to the community's welfare.

"Coledale has been without a shop for almost 20 years," he said.

"We also need a railway footbridge overpass that takes children away from the hazardous Robert Street railway intersection."

Mr Bacon's strategy also includes a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility, another domestic violence police officer, a pathway to ownership of state-owned housing and more domestic violence housing to help families escape torment.

"Through my normal employment as a tradesman I’m tasked with finding solutions an implementing those solutions, sometimes you have to scrap what you have and rebuild from the ground up," Mr Bacon said.

"I’m taking what I have done in industry and applying it to the political sphere, hollow rhetoric helps no one.

“I have consulted with community leaders, the police and program facilitators and all agree that this is a measured well thought plan to tackle this issues, in what has been a forgotten part of our community for far too long."

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• A small shopping centre in Coledale, which has been without a shop for almost 20 years

• Railway foot bride overpass, taking children away from the Robert St railway intersection

• Clontarf has been an overwhelming success at Oxley High School with over a 90 per cent success rate, and should be rolled out to Peel High and Tamworth High Schools

• Drug and alcohol rehabilitation, fighting addiction and improving quality of life for sufferers through rehab

• MERIT system, giving magistrates bail options that are not available to Tamworth because of the lack of alcohol rehabilitation services

• An extra DV police specialists to take our team to three

• An extra Aboriginal liaison officer

• Full allocation of 25 new police to the Oxley Police District

• Pathways to ownership of state owned housing

• Extra domestic Violence housing, helping families evade violence