“Advancing a metro-scale plan will help align infrastructure, housing and economic priorities in this area.”
That’s according to Nuatali Nelmes after the Property Council of Australia recently reviewed the NSW Government’s proposal to create a single Lower Hunter Central Coast planning region.
The merger aims to establish a unified approach for sustainable development, connecting the Central Coast’s residential growth with the Hunter’s employment hubs and services.
“But, any change should reflect the national importance of the economy across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, the Hunter Valley and the Central Coast,” she added.
“The Hunter-Central Coast is already Australia’s largest regional market, with a gross product larger than the ACT, Northern Territory or Tasmania.
“So, it needs the same planning clarity as Sydney.
“This region is also critical to NSW’s housing and economic future.
“By providing certainty and prioritising enabling infrastructure, we can unlock thousands of homes and hundreds of hectares of employment land.
“However, the new regional timeframe is not yet clear.”
The Hunter and Central Coast regional director said the Property Council was calling for the Greater Newcastle Metropolitan Plan 2036 to be updated and funded as a genuine metropolitan strategy for the combined corridor.
“Greater Newcastle led the way as Australia’s first metropolitan plan for a non-capital city,” Ms Nelmes explained.
“We’re making the case for updating that blueprint and expanding its scope across the whole Hunter–Central Coast corridor.”
Ms Nelmes said the proposed regional boundary changes outlined in A New Approach to Strategic Planning: Discussion Paper needed to be backed by clear delivery milestones.
“The department is right to call out problems with fragmented regions, misaligned data and overlapping plans,” she added.
“Our communities, councils and investors live that complexity every day.
“There must be a binding timetable for draft and final plans, and a transparent process for how those plans will guide rezonings, infrastructure sequencing and industrial land supply.
“This corridor is doing a lot of heavy lifting for NSW – from new homes in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Cessnock, Port Stephens, Maitland and the Central Coast, through to the transformation of our ports, airport and energy precincts.”
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