While State and Local Government strategic planning can be a bit of dry subject at times, the recent release of the NSW South East and Tablelands Regional Plan 2036 seemed like an opportune time to take a brief look at the way that State-level strategic planning filters down into the local government arena.
The Plan, which is an update of the original Sydney-Canberra Corridor Regional Strategy 2006-2031, guides the NSW Government’s land use planning priorities in our region. It provides an overarching framework for local strategic plans and more detailed land use plans in individual Local Government Areas. It feeds into areas such as economic development, environmental management, infrastructure planning and residential development strategies.
Apart from a degree of consistency that this promotes throughout the region, this sort of strategic planning allows local government to align relevant priorities with State government funding programs. When well-managed, this of course means that there is less pressure on, and councils have more flexibility in how they use their own rates revenues.
Another aspect of this recent Plan is that it formally recognises our proximity to Canberra and acknowledges the influence of the ACT on all aspects of the regional economy.
Only five years ago I sat in a meeting to provide feedback on a draft of the NSW Transport Master Plan for our region. I found it incredible that, until that meeting, this Plan, the 20-year master plan for infrastructure development in our region, completely ignored the impact of any traffic—road, rail or air—that went into or came out of the ACT. Thankfully, we’ve come a long way since then.
The ACT Government has recognised the mutually beneficial nature of its relationship with the surrounding NSW region for some time. Being able to showcase the diversity of opportunity that our region provides has been a key element of its campaign to attract international carriers to fly directly into Canberra. This also means that the surrounding region becomes and integral part of the ACT economic development and tourism strategies, once again relieving the financial pressure on local government within the region that might otherwise be associated with the development independent local programs.
As part of the local government reforms that included the recent amalgamation of Palerang and Queanbeyan City Councils, regional local government cooperatives known as Joint Organisations (JOs), were also formalised. In a further positive development, the boundary of our local JO, the Canberra Region JO (CBRJO), has been aligned pretty much with the SE & Tablelands planning region. Importantly, recognising the role it plays in regional planning and development, the ACT Government is an associate member of the CBRJO.