Making it happen

The regional plan takes an infrastructure-first and place-based approach to future growth.

This requires infrastructure providers, the development industry and public authorities to take an integrated and coherent place-based approach to land use planning through:

• an urban development program
• infrastructure benchmark
• place strategies for specific areas.

Download the Central Coast Regional Plan 2041 (PDF, 11.5 MB).

Urban development program

The urban development program is the NSW Government’s program for managing land and housing supply and assisting infrastructure coordination.

It will be expanded to the Central Coast. This will provide a strong evidence base through quarterly reporting of land supply, dwelling construction and demand.

An urban development program committee will be established to:

• identify and remove barriers and disincentives for infill housing
• oversee a pipeline of housing and employment land supply across the Central Coast
• track the supply of infill and greenfield land supply, completions, whether the land is serviced or contains biodiversity constraints/values, and infrastructure servicing data of housing and employment land
• identify opportunities to accelerate the supply of land for housing and employment including improvements to land rezoning, release, and servicing
• make land use and infrastructure sequencing recommendations that may result in more cost-effective housing and job delivery
• monitor the density of development across the region
• provide annual updates to a sequencing plan and delivery report.

The UDP Committee aims to meet once a quarter and includes the following members:

Infrastructure assessment and sequencing

An infrastructure assessment framework will allow us to build more homes or facilitate more jobs were infrastructure costs less.

The department is preparing a framework to assess the:

• capacity of existing infrastructure
• potential take-up scenarios of future development
• extent, type, cost and timing of new infrastructure.

The cost effectiveness of supplying infrastructure to homes or businesses will influence government decision-making on where new homes or jobs should be located. 

Additional analysis will also consider the wider impacts and benefits resulting from this potential infrastructure investment.

Supply Pipeline Benchmarks

Tier 1 (0 - 5 years zoned)

• Subdivisions approved with biodiversity offsets, and enabling infrastructure funding resolved

Tier 2 (6 - 10 years zoned)

• Biodiversity offsets resolved

Tier 3 (11 - 15 years zoned)

Tier 4 (16 - 20 years further investigation)

• Identified in an endorsed local strategy

Tier 5 (20 + years potential future investigation)

• Not identified in an endorsed local strategy

Place Delivery Group program place strategies

The Place Delivery Group program applies to areas moving from strategic planning to construction. It aims to realise the vision of the Hunter Regional Plan 2041 and the Central Coast Regional Plan 2041 sooner as on-the-ground outcomes.

A proponent, council or government agency can nominate a site to be considered by the Urban Development Program. Successful nominations will then be progressed through a Place Delivery Group (PDG) program.

The Department of Planning and Environment will establish PDGs from relevant public authorities that the Urban Development Program identifies. PDGs will use place strategies to deliver stronger place-based planning responses.

At present, strategic land-use decisions, including those relating to state infrastructure contributions, often precede capital investment planning by infrastructure and service delivery authorities. Consequently, decisions on infrastructure investment often lag behind the identification and development of growth areas and increased housing in existing places.

For a growing Hunter and Central Coast, uncoordinated provision of services and infrastructure is not sustainable, efficient, cost effective or equitable.

Endorsed place strategies delivered under the PDG program will provide a more coordinated, collaborative, and holistic response to planning and infrastructure servicing issues.

To assist you with your proposed place strategy application we have developed a guideline.

Download the Place Delivery Group program for Central Coast and Hunter guideline (PDF, 583 KB).

Regionally Significant Growth Areas and Catalyst Areas roles and responsibilities

Six cities planning

The Greater Cities Commission will produce a Six Cities Regional Plan. The plan will celebrate the diversity and unique offering of each city and how each contributes to broader region.

Once that plan is adopted, the commission will then work towards a city plan for the Central Coast City.

The Central Coast Regional Plan 2041 will take the status of a district city plan until it is repealed by the commission’s Central Coast City Plan.

Monitoring and performance measures

We will produce an annual report on the implementation of the regional plan to act as an accountability framework to each action and objective.

Measures will include:

• percentage of infill or greenfield development
• timeframe and responsibility to complete each action
• number of years of zoned and serviced land
• average travel time and mode of choice between and within the region
• amount of land retained for areas of regional biodiversity value
• the number of low risk, no risk, or high risk planning proposals.