Mid North Coast Regional Strategy

"The Strategy maps growth areas that are available for future urban development. These areas aim to reinforce the Region’s settlement hierarchy while supporting scenic green breaks between coastal communities and protecting important assets and resources"--Website summary.

"The primary purpose of the Regional Strategy is to ensure that adequate land is available and appropriately located to accommodate the projected housing and employment needs of the Region's population over the next 25 years. The draft Strategy sets the policy to govern where and how growth can occur. While it is clear that expected growth can be accommodated in the Region, the draft Strategy places limits on growth in some areas where the value of environmental/cultural assets and natural resources is high. The importance of providing for employment land to provide increased capacity for new jobs has also been addressed in the Strategy."--Verso cover.

"The Mid North Coast provides a variety of climates and environments that support high biodiversity and recreational values. These make it a highly valued place to live and consequently it is facing increasing development pressure. The area has also inherited a legacy of clearing and intensive settlement. The Department of Planning released the Mid North Coast Regional Strategy in March 2009. The strategy, which covers the period 2006-2031, predicts a significant increase in development pressure over the next 25 years ... The Draft Mid North Coast Regional Conservation Plan has been developed by DECCW to complement the strategy and set out the regional conservation priorities for the same 25-year period."--DECCW website.

"The Far North Coast is the most biologically diverse region in NSW. It is subject to increasing development pressure and has inherited a legacy of clearing and intensive settlement. The Department of Planning released the Far North Coast Regional Strategy in December 2006. The strategy, which covers the period 2006-2031, predicts a significant increase in development pressure over the next 25 years ... The Far North Coast Regional Conservation Plan has been developed by the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (DECCW) to complement the strategy and sets out the regional conservation priorities for the same 25-year period."--DECCW website.

" ... applies to the six local government areas of Ballina, Byron, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Tweed ... . The purpose of the Regional Strategy is to manage expected growth in a sustainable manner, at the same time as protecting the unique environmental assets, cultural values and natural resources of the Region"--Cover title verso.

Recent Australian local government structural reform has manifested as council amalgamations and predominantly as imposed merger processes. This book examines council amalgamations across Australia over the past two decades and uncovers the case of council amalgamation in the NSW Clarence Valley Council (CVC) since 2004. The case of forced amalgamation of four general-purpose and two county councils could have been a recipe for chaos; instead this book describes the gains and the challenges. Writing from deep seated knowledge of local government this book details the net positive economic outcomes and financial benefits against measurable indicators and describes the impacts on local democracy. Based on detailed research, this long term local government ‘insider’ perspective will be of value to all those interested in driving change through local government reform.