Our Committee is comprised of 10 local leaders with diverse skills and experience, who understand the challenges, opportunities and priorities in their local community. They are local people developing local solutions to local issues.

Our members have a strong understanding of Federal, State and Local government policies and initiatives, and the ways in which local communities can engage with them.

The Chair and Deputy Chair positions to date have been appointed jointly by the Australian and State Government Ministers responsible for regional development.

Opportunities exist from time to time for new appointments to the Committee.  These will be advertised on our website and social media channels.

Should you be interested in learning more about RDA Australia or joining the Central West Committee when vacancies arise, please click the link for more information.

Ruth Fagan, Chair

Ruth Fagan has extensive advisory board experience, in a State and regional capacity. Ruth has served as a Cowra Shire Councillor since 2004 and has held a number of state and regional leadership roles, including membership of the Western Region Joint Regional Planning Panel and the Board of Local Government NSW.

A resident of Cowra for about 40 years, Ruth has worked as a journalist, tourism manager and operated a number of businesses in Cowra across retail, hospitality and wine sectors. Ruth holds a Bachelor of Business Studies from Charles Sturt University, she is the Director of a Marketing Business and the Business Development Manager and partner of a real estate agency in Cowra.

Reg Kidd, Deputy Chair

Reg is an agricultural consultant and holds a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, Graduate Diploma in Education and a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.

He is a former Mayor and Councillor of Orange City Council. Reg has represented NSW Local Government on a number of State Committees including; Landcare, the Catchment Authority, Biodiversity and is the longest serving chairman of the Infrastructure Council committee.

David Sherley, Member

David is currently employed as the General Manager of Bathurst Regional Council. He has an interest in the facilitation of regional growth to ensure the future sustainability of rural Australia, in particular the areas of infrastructure development, cultural and sports tourism and regional planning.

David is a member of Central NSW Joint Organisation. He has a Bachelor Economics (Sydney University), a Masters of Business (CSU), a Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies (Deakin).

Christine Weston, Member

Christine is an accomplished direct marketing executive with 20 years international experience working in Australia, New Zealand, UK, Germany and throughout Asia Pacific.

Christine’s board experience extends from executive roles to reporting to the boards of multi-national companies.

Christine was awarded NSW Woman of the Year 2010 for her dedication to regional development, community and tourism. These local initiatives include ‘Rent-a-farmhouse for $1 a week’, ‘Animals on Bikes’ paddock art trail and ‘Opera in the Woolshed’.

Tracie Robertson, Member

Tracie is the Managing Director of Ray White Real Estate in Parkes, Forbes and Condobolin.

Tracie is a graduate of Charles Sturt University and the Australian Institute of Business having completed a Bachelor of Business Management, a Graduate Diploma in Business Administration and a Master of Business Administration.

Tracie is a past Vice President of the Parkes Regional Development Association which evolved to become the Parkes Chamber of Commerce, and was a forming member of the Condobolin Chamber of Commerce, the Forbes Economic Development group and the Parkes Business Awards.

Diana Fear, Member

Diana is CEO of Central West Farming systems leading the direction of projects through overseeing the financial management, administration, project delivery and reporting on project KPIs.  Critical to the success of these projects is identifying suitable collaborators, effective stakeholder engagement, and ensuring efficient operational systems.

Diana has a BA (Hons) International Relations and a Diploma of Agribusiness. She’s a graduate of the Institute of Community Directors Australia.

Ricky Puata, Member

Ricky is the Deputy Director, Regional Coordination & Delivery for the Department of Regional NSW.  In his role, he works across Central West NSW to improve social and economic outcomes through working with all levels of government, industry and business. Before this, he worked in the health and community engagement space and was the Cancer Council NSW Regional Manager covering Western NSW.

Ricky is a Board Director for the Upstairs Regional Incubator Hub, the first regional startup hub in Central West NSW. He is also committed to promoting public health in regional communities and is a Council Member for the Western NSW Primary Health Network Community Council and Member of the Orange Health Liaison Committee. Ricky is also the Chair of Cancer Care Western NSW. He holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Master of Business Law.

Owen Williams, Member

Owen has a background in superannuation portfolio management and investment banking.

He has held Project Director roles in projects including LNG, gas chemicals and HV electricity transmission. Owen has served extended terms on the boards of airports, ports and retail finance entities.

Owen has a keen interest in providing support to practical initiatives that advance the region as a centre of excellence for medical, education, wine/food, tourism, minerals extraction and particularly new industries that will build skill bases in advanced and emerging industries and technologies not dependent on capital city location.

Eleanor Falkiner, Member

Eleanor Falkiner is an agribusiness and public sector major projects specialist with over 15 years experience including working with AACo and ARTC Inland Rail.

Eleanor is currently a non-executive Director of Haddon Rig, a sheep and dryland cropping enterprise at Warren, NSW and the co-owner of Boridgeree, a lucerne farm at Canowindra.

Eleanor holds a double degree in Communications and International Relations from University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and is interested in regional development and community capacity building, particularly for women and First Nations communities.

Joshua Devitt, Member

Josh is a regionally based civil engineer, with over 20 years of experience in the public works and higher education sectors. Josh is committed to the ongoing growth of the Central West, by delivering practical solutions to improve outcomes for local communities, as well as ensuring the long term development of the region is secure.

Josh currently serves as the Chief Engineer of the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA) NSW & ACT Division. He also serves on numerous State and Federal technical committees and panels; including the Austroads Technical Advisory Group, Asset AI Steering Committee, CSU Engineering External Advisory Committee and the Streets Opening Coordination Council.