The Mayors and General Managers of the Hunter JO met on Thursday 20 and Friday 21 May 2021, to participate in a collaborative planning session, a key foundational step in guiding the development of the next Hunter JO Strategic Plan. This two-day workshop aimed to identify key shared priorities for our member councils that will guide the collaboration of the Hunter JO over the coming years.

This next iteration of the Hunter JO Strategic Plan will guide our strategy through 2022-26, and will link directly to the Hunter JO Integrated Planning & Reporting (IP&R) Framework. The Hunter JO has put together its own IP&R Timeline, to create clear linkages to the Local Government Framework and Cycle, and therefore to better link in with the goals and planned outcomes of our member councils

A key session within the workshop was the opportunity for each Mayor and General Manager to provide a ‘spotlight’ on the key priorities within their own LGA, both currently and in the next five years. By first looking at the region through the lens of each LGA and its discrete challenges and opportunities, the group were then able to examine what key issues were shared across multiple LGAs, or in some cases across all.

Following on from this workshop, the Hunter JO team will look to distill the key themes that were raised by each member council, to develop regional priorities for the organisation. It is anticipated that a draft of the Hunter JO Strategic Plan will be presented to the Board and to its Member Councils prior to the Local Government elections in September, to continue its refinement.