The Draft Hunter Regional Plan and the Draft Plan for Growing Hunter City have been informed by community and stakeholder feedback from the consultation on The Lower Hunter over the next 20 years Discussion Paper and evidence on housing, jobs, biodiversity and infrastructure in the region.

The Draft Hunter Regional Plan, which outlines a vision to grow and diversify the Hunter economy over the next 20 years so that it remains the biggest and most productive regional economy in Australia, was on exhibition from 25 November 2016 to 24 March 2016.

A Draft Plan for Growing Hunter City was also released as a companion to the draft Regional Plan, to reflect the City’s importance as the prime location for new jobs, housing and regional-level services.

The draft plans outlined a vision, goals and actions that aim to:

• protect the region’s most important asset, the environment
• grow and diversify the economy to create local jobs
• create thriving, liveable centres
• deliver greater housing choice
• in collaboration with councils, establish a committee to drive the coordination and delivery of the actions in the Plan.

For the first time strategic planning for the Lower Hunter, Upper Hunter and Great Lakes is consolidated in this plan.

The Draft Regional Plan also incorporates policies contained in the 2012 Upper Hunter Strategic Regional Land Use Plan.

We wish to thank the Hunter community, local councils, community groups, and peak bodies for having their say on the Draft Hunter Regional Plan and the Draft Plan for Growing Hunter City.

We have endeavoured to remove any personal or sensitive information from your submissions, prior to publishing. If you have any concerns about the published submissions, please contact our Hunter and Central Coast office on (02) 4904 2700.

We are now considering the submissions, including recording and analysing the issues and examining the suggested changes to the draft Plans.

Once all submissions are considered the final Plan will be prepared and released.