Central Coast set to become a Greater City.
Greater Cities Commission appoints Central Coast Commissioner Greater Cities Central Coast Commissioner the Hon. Robyn Parker, The Greater Cities Commission has appointed the Hon. Robyn Parker a City Commissioner to represent the Central Coast City along with two other Commissioners who will represent Greater Newcastle and the Illawarra to lead the planning for the Six Cities for the next four years.
The Commission says that the appointments come at an important time as it launches its Six Cities Discussion Paper and embarks on intensive engagement to inform the Six Cities Region and City Plans to be released from 2023.
The Greater Cities Commission has been charged with creating Australia’s first global city region, delivering global economic scale and local liveability.
Mr Roberts also acknowledged the important role the Central Coast Council played in the selection process.
The Six Cities Region – Discussion Paper, The Greater Cities Commission, in September, launched a Discussion Paper with Greater Cities Commission Chief Commissioner Geoff Roberts AM saying, “As we develop the Six Cities Region, we need to be bold and ambitious in tackling some of the defining issues of our time:
· housing, inequality,
· physical and digital connectivity,
· job opportunities and
· climate change.
These are not simple issues. This discussion paper outlines the Commission’s emerging thinking on how we can realise the vision of the Six Cities Region, including six Region Shapers that we believe can get us there.
Planning for our shared future is about improving the lives of the six million people who already live in the Six Cities Region and the millions more who will live in the region in the future. As we move from a metropolis of three cities to a region of six cities, our vision is to deliver global competitiveness and local
liveability for the Six Cities Region.
The recent passing of the Greater Cities Commission Bill 2022 in State Parliament will see the Greater Cities Commission bringing together the Lower Hunter and Greater Newcastle, Central Coast, Greater Sydney and Illawarra-Shoalhaven to create a globally competitive city region, with City Commissioners to be appointed from each of the regions involved.
Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast, Adam Crouch, described the Bill as “an excellent piece of legislation” which will establish a framework for the region’s priorities. “Having a Central Coast local as the Commissioner to implement the priorities of our region is absolutely appropriate,” Crouch said.
He said major priorities for the region included locating a university campus in the Gosford city centre, expanding the health services in Gosford to support the Central Coast’s growing population to generate more local jobs, and facilitating faster transport connections between regional centres.
The move has also been welcomed by Business NSW Central Coast, which says it is a positive step forward for the Central Coast and the state.
“Business NSW has been heavily advocating for an aligned strategy that connects Sydney’s major cities and we were pleased to see that the Greater Cities Commission will be tasked with bringing this strategy to life,” Regional Director, Paula Martin, said. “Business NSW sees the megacity strategy as an opportunity to fully shape the region including the Gosford CBD for future employment growth, particularly in areas where we are seeing high demand for jobs in health, professional services, technology, and data-driven sectors underpinned by the newly launched medical precinct and much-anticipated education precinct.”
So if these plans were to reach fruition, it would create massive opportunity on the coast as a genuine lifestyle precinct, create many new jobs closer to where people live, attract world-class industry and talent, and deliver the infrastructure to connect the cities together.