The “bold and ambitious” plan for the Six Cities Region has been welcomed by the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) for its clear vision to create Australia’s economic powerhouse.
Chair of UDIA Central Coast Chapter, Caine King, said the NSW Government’s new strategic focus on the Six Cities Region presented an enormous and crucial opportunity to set the Central Coast City on a path for exponential growth as part of the broader Sydney mega-region.
“If the proper settings are put in place now, we can build better communities with enhanced economic, social and environmental benefits and lift the global competitiveness of NSW,” he said.
“The blueprint represents a clear vision for the Six Cities Region and it will be essential to leverage this new focus, whereby the value of the mega-region is greater than the sum of its six parts to enable that vision to turn into reality.
“The Sydney mega-region includes the Central Coast City and currently delivers around a third of the Australian GDP making it by far the most important economic region in Australia and with over 6.3 million people it needs to be planned to grow as a globally competitive conurbation.”
King said the 10-year outlook indicated that 400,000 new dwellings would be needed by 2031 in the Six Cities Region.
“We clearly have a long way to go before this is achievable and government must get it right as the mega-region represents 90 percent of new housing supply for NSW,” he said.
CEO of UDIA NSW, Steve Mann said their Issues Paper – Priority Focus Areas to Ensure Success for the Six Cities Region – aligned closely with the sentiment in the Six Cities Discussion Paper and called on the NSW Government to focus on several actions in Central Coast City immediately to get the vision off to the best possible start.
He said that included more ambitious housing targets to address supply challenges; updated industrial lands policy across the Six Cities; and a new innovation district to be developed on the Central Coast with a focus on health, technology and food manufacturing linked to freight systems.
“There needs to be better digital connectivity to support innovation districts,” Mann said.
“Planning is needed for fast rail over the longer term and in the medium term we need better transport including improved bus services to connect communities, as well as strategic plans for the passengers and businesses that use airports, including general aviation airports such as Warnervale.”
Mann said another subject was to gain more understanding around what achieving a climate resilient city would require.
“Regrettably, there is no mention of biodiversity in the Six Cities document,” he said.
“The vision of achieving higher housing and jobs targets won’t be achieved in the Central Coast City without committing to a strategic solution to balance biodiversity and growth outcomes.”
The UDIA welcomed the Discussion Paper’s recognition that better connections throughout the Six Cities would open up new opportunities for settlement and support increased housing supply.
“We see the opportunity for new towns and centres to emerge within the Six Cities Region supported by appropriate infrastructure at regional, city and local scale,” Mann said.
“This should be managed with a settlement strategy that considers greater potential for population growth and broader acceptance post-COVID working from home, while still maximising the benefits of the established key centres in each of the Cities.
“We need to use this major strategy review now to implement better processes for planning, governance, and engagement to unlock the private sector investment required to support the NSW Government’s vision for the Six Cities Region as Australia’s economic powerhouse,” Mann said.
The Six Cities Discussion Paper is now open for public comment on the Greater Cities Commission website.
Sue Murray