Housing and Infrastructure Master Plan

Our rural lands contain a diverse range of enterprises and opportunities that support our rural lifestyle and livelihoods. Our aim is to diversify rural areas by managing how rural land is used and developed to deliver balanced outcomes for our community.

Key issues that will be considered in the Rural Lands Strategy include:

• Rural Enterprises and Diversification – emphasise flexibility for farming families to supplement income through agritourism and other farm-based employment.
• Zoning Strategy – consider the need to diversify our rural land use zones, including how we zone land instead of applying a current ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.
•  Minimum Lot Sizes – apply place-based methodology for minimum lot size controls across rural zones.
•  Dwelling Entitlements Review – review rules for allowing dwellings on rural land below the minimum lot size threshold.
•  Simplify Development Requirements – facilitate the construction of appropriate rural and farming structures (such as sheds) with minimal regulation.
•  Rural Lifestyle and Housing Choices – balance opportunities for more rural housing with a sustainable rural future.

Our housing needs are as diverse as the people who make up Dungog Shire and will continue to change into the future. Our aim is to offer a broad range of housing options to cater for our diverse needs - families, our ageing population, single person households and everyone in between, while simultaneously delivering housing that is affordable.

Key issues that will be considered in the Local Housing Strategy include:

• Neighbourhood Character- identify and map character types to ensure housing growth is balanced with respecting neighbourhood character.
•  Residential Growth Framework – define and map areas of minimal, incremental, and moderate change.
•  Activation of Villages- high level structure plans for Paterson, Vacy and Gresford, along with providing flexibility for retailing or exhibiting local produce, art, craft and tourism
•  Multi-Generational and Downsizing Housing – streamline secondary dwellings, integrated housing and residential aged care facilities, along with family-orientated planning principles for growth areas.
•  Form-Based Planning Standards - develop design-led planning controls and development standards for diverse housing typologies.
•  Design advice – guidance, simple solutions and examples for building and renovating housing based on designs to reduce ongoing household costs.

Our aims is to outline what infrastructure is needed to facilitate and enable our future population growth.

Key issues that will be considered in the Infrastructure Capacity and Prioritisation Plan include:

• Review and Update our requirements for open space and recreation facilities – review Council’s Open Space and Recreation Plan (2022) in line with updated population projections to 2041.
• Analyse Hunter Service Plans – assess sewer and water service planning in alignment with planning assumptions and compliance with sewage requirements.
•  Advocacy for health, schools and emergency services – high level benchmarking to determine future demand and gaps for State infrastructure.
•  Community Facilities Benchmarking – determine expectations and comparable benchmarks for libraries and community facilities to meet future population growth.
•  Road maintenance and upgrades – analyse potential demand for road upgrades from development and a decision support framework for delivery and maintenance works.
•  Funding Options – recommend funding methods for future infrastructure, including NSW and Commonwealth funding and development contributions.
•  Delivery Plan – prioritise and map a schedule of works with high level costs and service catchments.

An updated planning statement will set our vision to 2041 and our overarching growth management approach across Dungog Shire. Our aim is to set out clear planning priorities and actions needed to turn our vision into reality through our planning controls and development standards. 

Key issues that will be considered in the Local Strategic Planning Statement include:

• Demographic & Economic Trends – population growth, employment shifts, housing demand across Dungog Shire.
• Integrating Strategies – incorporating the key objectives and moves of the Rural Lands Strategy, Local Housing Strategy, Infrastructure Capacity and Prioritisation Plan, Dungog and Clarence Town Structure Plans into the LSPS.
• Planning Principles – set the strategic outcomes for biodiversity, sustainable buildings, natural hazards, resilience, water quality.
• Tourism, Retail and Events – promote sustainable, rural and cultural heritage tourism opportunities and greater retail choices and flexibility for events.
• Employment & Business Zones – identify employment land supply gaps, creative and local manufacturing industries, business growth and opportunities from the renewable energy zone.

Dungog is the primary urban centre of our shire. Our aim is to ensure there are opportunities for growing the town centre, increasing business opportunities and provide for new development whilst ensuring that local environmental values, biodiversity,  landscape, agricultural land and rural character are protected and maintained.

Key issues that will be considered in the Dungog Strategic Centre Structure Plan include:

• Master-planning Key Moves – outline the key strategic moves across Dowling Street, a sports and creative precinct, new communities at Tabbill Creek, Dungog Common and Melbee affordable housing.
• Housing & Growth – align with the local housing strategy to guide population growth and housing delivery.
• Character & Heritage – define character areas, objectives, and heritage-sensitive planning and adaptive re-use.
• Built Form Controls – establish height, active street frontages, and other building design standards for the town centre.
• Movement and access – set walking and cycling priorities to connective key activity centres
• Open Space and Greening – focus on green grid approach to integrating public open space and conservation areas with leafy, green and water sensitive streets.

Provides a comprehensive synthesis of all strategies, mapping the Shire's growth vision to 2041. There is a lot happening across the different plans and strategies. The executive summary will help bring it all together in an easy to single reference for the vision to 2041 and how we will get there.