Council Watch

Watching Central Coast Council on behalf of fair-minded and reasonable people.

Central Coast Council Watch

Six Cities update: we love our unique identity

by

The Six Cities Commission has released what it says are the key themes that have emerged from its public exhibition of the Six Cities vision.

Key themes and feedback included:  

  • Housing affordability and access, particularly for young and older people.
     
  • Interest in innovative approaches to diverse housing, including multi-generational living.
     
  • Focus on addressing climate resilience and responding to major weather events such as bushfires, heat and flooding.
     
  • Increase sustainable living with tree canopy, active transport and responsive home design.
     
  • Care for First Nations voice and culture.
     
  • Provide better transport connections between cities and within cities.
     
  • Improve alignment of investment in infrastructure and services to support growth.
     
  • Protect the unique identity of our cities and natural features like bush, waterways, beaches and open space.  

The Central Coast Council Aarea was just one of the 43 council areas within the Six CIties region that were consulted

Next steps

The Commission will be hosting technical workshops with council “in the weeks ahead” Acting CEO Lyndal Hayward said, as well as roundtables with key stakeholders

The Discussion Paper engagement process is the first of many opportunities to provide input into the Region and City Plans being developed by the Commission. 

“There will be further engagement in the coming weeks and in 2023, including a public exhibition period for the draft plans,” a Commission press release stated.

“The Commission will ensure the community is provided with opportunities to provide feedback, in line with the requirements of the Environmental Planning & Assessment Act. ” 

Background

The Six Cities Discussion Paper released in September focussed on the vision to build what the Commission called “Australia’s only truly global city region”.

The vision takes in the Lower Hunter and Greater Newcastle City, Central Coast City, Illawarra-Shoalhaven City, and three areas of Sydney called the Western Parkland City, Central River City and Eastern Harbour City.

The Commission says it conducted meetings and briefings with each of the 43 councils within the Six Cities Region, conducted First Nations engagement across all six cities, hosted stakeholder webinars and participated in dozens of briefings hosted by community, and industry groups.

Stakeholders and community members were invited to join the conversation and share ideas on how to deliver “a world-class region of better jobs, housing, education and leisure that is productive, sustainable and liveable for everyone”.  

“Between 8 September and 30 October 2022, this online consultation was visited 14,500 times, and over 3,000 surveys were completed,” the Commission said on Thursday, November 10.

Interested people can subscribe to the Greater Cities Commission newsletter.