Hello everyone, Councillor Liam Ley here, bringing you this week's video update.
It's probably the major thing that happened this week, and that's at this month's council meeting, which was on Wednesday, Council endorsed something that's pretty significant. It's a whole suite of strategic plans. And I just wanted to take a moment to talk about, I guess what this actually is, why we've done it, and what it means for the community, because it is pretty big.
So a lot of people hear strategic planning, and understandably think it's just another giant, pointless document, which I totally get, but this one is very different. So we're adopting a long-term whole of Shire planning framework, and it was funded through the Commonwealth housing support program. It's a massive grant that we got to do this, and it represents, honestly, a once in a generation opportunity to shape the future of Dungog.
So this isn't a filler, it's not a box-ticking exercise, and it's not something that we're doing for fun, although it is about 1000 pages, and after reading 1000 pages in total, it may have permanently increased my base level of excitement. So, you know, it is a huge, huge lot of work that's gone into it. So what this actually is, there's five major draft documents.
So there's a:
- local strategic planning statement, which is about the 15 year vision for land use.
- There's a local housing strategy
- a rural land strategy
- an infrastructure capacity and prioritisation plan
- a structure plan and street master scape master plan for Dungog Town Centre as well, which looks really good if you look at some of those future design, design context concepts.
So, and importantly, all of these documents talk to each other, and so for the first time, we have a housing, transport, infrastructure, rural land and Town Centre that are all part of one coordinated picture. So in simple terms, it's a blueprint of how Dungog grows, and how we keep the character and lifestyle that people actually value here. So I guess, why have we done this? Well there's three main reasons that I really see, and that's because
- growth is coming, whether we plan for it or not. So under the New South Wales Housing 2041 strategy and the Hunter Regional Plan 2041, Dungog Shire is expected to deliver around 2500 homes over the next 20 years. So that's a huge change for a small rural Shire like ours, and I guess we can either shape that growth, or we can watch that growth shape us. And so this framework really guides us with intention.
- because we need a coordinated plan for infrastructure, so roads, water, sewer facilities, open spaces, these things don't happen randomly. And if we know where those houses are going and where that infrastructure is going, we can plan what infrastructure goes with it, and what's there to support it, and this package finally connects all those pieces, so we're not just chasing our tail later, because this is essential for funding. So you've heard me say this before. Funding doesn't often go to councils who just want things, and if it did, we would be a very rich Council. And unfortunately, it goes to councils who can prove that they've planned for them. So this document gives us evidence, it gives us priority lists, it gives us justification. So when we go to state or federal government, we can say here's the plan, here's the data, here's the community needs and the community wants. And now is the perfect time to capitalise on the housing growth, because it's a major focus of both state and federal governments. And I said it last night or Wednesday night, sorry, at the council meeting, but I'll say it again. Dave Layzell, Alison Penfold, who are state and federal members, if you're watching this video right now, and I'm sure you are, as well as watching the council meeting, please take note, this is a real game-changer.
- This planning package means better clarity about where development will go and where it won't go. Dungog and Clarence Town have been identified as the primary growth areas. The villages like Paterson, Vacy, Gresford, East Gresford and Martins Creek will experience intimate, incremental growth.
People often ask, why is that happening over there? Or why can't this be built over here? And this gives us clear data. It gives us clear answers and a clear policy to point to, so a stronger basis to protect our character, so we can keep Dungog feeling like Dungog. And it's not by stopping change, but how we shape it, right? So better planning for youth and families. So the evidence is clear. We're actually pretty strong in outdoor sports here for youth, but what we're really missing is that indoor, all-weather youth space, and this gives us a strategic basis to actually pursue it. Now, youth is a major concern in the community. I've actually been to a lot of youth community forums recently, including one this week. And there are a lot of issues that have been identified.
There are also numerous opportunities, and many of them align well with this draft policy. So it's really good strategic policy, with a transport system that makes sense, like safer walking routes, cycling connections, better traffic management that is planned and not accidental. More targeted investments in open space, protection and activation of rural land.
So the rural land strategy supports farmers, protects productive land, and importantly, it introduces a new RU Zone for primary production; a small lot zone, which enables small-scale farming, agri tourism and rural accommodation. It's just more flexibility to actually use your land how you want to, with a clearer long-term vision. So people want certainty, and this really does give it.
And yes, let's be honest, with our plan councils and we've all seen councils do this before, they react instead of planning. It's patching instead of building. And so, I guess this package is the opposite to that. Iit's thoughtful, it's coordinated, it's very professional. Most of all, it's very long overdue.
So hopefully you've got a little bit of understanding about what the target areas are and what all this means. And before I finish, I just want to highlight something super important.
The level of community engagement behind this work has been huge, and honestly, I would not be surprised if this does not break a record for the most community input we've ever had in a planning project in Dungog. It's been massive, and that is exactly what this council term has set out to do - elevate community voices, listen properly, and make sure big decisions aren't made in isolation. The feedback, the workshops, the surveys, the comments, all of that has shaped what we have put forward in these draft plans. And this isn't just a council plan. It's not a consultant's plan. This is the people's plan, and it's built from the community up, not the top down, and that is exactly how it should be when we're talking about the future of the Shire.
Now they're going out on public exhibition, you can finally see what all that work has built. It's really important that you do continue to have your say now, and you know, if you have missed this entire process, that's totally fine. There's still time.
So the documents are available on the Council website, so submissions can be made online via email or in writing. It cuts off 5pm the 21st of December, so just before Christmas.
Council will also be holding a few drop-in information sessions in person. We'll be chucking those details on the website, as well as the Facebook page, if you're interested in those.
I think that's the main focus of this week in council. This is a huge plan, and I'm very happy to see it finally go out on exhibition. So thank you very much. Thank you for listening and make sure you have your say. Thank you.
