During July, we held our Regional Councils Directors Forum, with a strong focus on planning and economic development across the Hunter.
The forum brought together council directors, managers and senior staff responsible for economic development, strategic planning, and transport planning. It provided a valuable opportunity to align on priorities, share insights, and strengthen collaboration on key regional issues.
Key topics explored included:
- An overview of our Draft Strategic Plan 2035, Delivery Program, and Operational Plan
- Investment attraction processes across our region. For example, what’s working well and what could be improved?
- Transport Planning, identifying regional priorities using criteria focused on environmental sustainability, economic value, access and equity, and regional impact:
- Public transport planning for projected populations and people movement across our region
- Strategic Cycleway Corridors Plan implementation
- Equity in road funding
- Prioritising investment into dedicated freight corridors
- Transparency and reporting around delivery of the Hunter Strategic Regional Integrated Transport Plan
We look forward to further conversations and intergovernmental collaboration as part of our commitment to identifying and achieving our shared regional priorities for the Hunter.