The State Government have announced a blueprint for the
Hunter as it looks to ensure the region will be able to grow by 30 percent over
the next two decades.
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| Rob Stokes |
Dubbed the Hunter Regional Plan, the project will help guide
private development over the next 20 years, with hopes it’ll turn Newcastle
into a metropolitan centre.
“We know that this region will continue to grow in terms of
population,” Planning Minister Rob Stokes said while also calling Newcastle the
“capital of the largest regional economy in NSW”.
The Government also announced the Hunter Region Special
Contributions Plan to help spur development across the region.
“It can help developers and land owners to price in from the
very beginning of their development proposals,” Rob Stokes said.
“This will provide certainty, clarity, it’ll help speed up
the planning process.”
The plan is a levy, which was similar to the one used by the
Government while it was revitalising Western Sydney.
“It’ll also put downward pressure on house prices by making it
clear to developers the sorts of contribution they’ll be expected to
contribute,” Stokes said.
The blueprint has been praised by local think tank Urban Task
Force, with its CEO, Chris Johnson saying the plan was inevitable.
“Sydney can’t just always go up and get bigger, so we’re
going to rely on Newcastle as a major centre into future decades,” he said.
“We’re very positive about strong growth, we believe this
plan does deliver on that.”
“A lot is going to be in the detail of course and some of
that will come out in the district plans.”
