What do you want Kempsey Shire to be like in twenty years?
Consultation has concluded.
Please visit Kempsey Shire Council website for more information.
2042: Your Future - Community Strategic Plan
What do you want Kempsey to be?
We have heard from over 1700 community members over the last 5 years about their vision for Kempsey Shire to 2042.
Council Adopted the 2042: Your Future - Community Strategic Plan at the April 2022 Council Meeting.
The Community Strategic Plan, 2042: Your Future, is designed to outline the community’s hopes, aspirations and dreams for the Kempsey Shire. It is a statement of our community’s plan and vision of what we want Kempsey Shire to be in 20 years.
It all starts with the vision
The 2042: Your Future vision statement was crafted by bringing together the priorities, visions and strengths identified by the community and framing it in plain language that is memorable and unique to our shire.
From the mountains to the sea,
our people are given the opportunities and infrastructure
to build a safe, prosperous and welcoming community.
Marrungbu.
Delivered through four key strategies
To achieve our vision for the future, our community is committed to four focus areas:
- Enhancing And Protecting Our Natural And Built Environment
- Boosting And Evolving Kempsey Shire’s Prosperous Economy
- Creating And Celebrating A Supportive, Connected Community
- Valuing, Informed Leadership That Engages And Inspires The Community
2042: Your Future - Community Strategic Plan
What do you want Kempsey to be?
We have heard from over 1700 community members over the last 5 years about their vision for Kempsey Shire to 2042.
Council Adopted the 2042: Your Future - Community Strategic Plan at the April 2022 Council Meeting.
The Community Strategic Plan, 2042: Your Future, is designed to outline the community’s hopes, aspirations and dreams for the Kempsey Shire. It is a statement of our community’s plan and vision of what we want Kempsey Shire to be in 20 years.
It all starts with the vision
The 2042: Your Future vision statement was crafted by bringing together the priorities, visions and strengths identified by the community and framing it in plain language that is memorable and unique to our shire.
From the mountains to the sea,
our people are given the opportunities and infrastructure
to build a safe, prosperous and welcoming community.
Marrungbu.
Delivered through four key strategies
To achieve our vision for the future, our community is committed to four focus areas:
- Enhancing And Protecting Our Natural And Built Environment
- Boosting And Evolving Kempsey Shire’s Prosperous Economy
- Creating And Celebrating A Supportive, Connected Community
- Valuing, Informed Leadership That Engages And Inspires The Community
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What should the future look like?
about 2 years agoCLOSED: This ideas has concluded.Share images, ideas or files about what you would like to see for the future in the area
buzzookover 2 years agoToll points on Shire entrance roads
All exits off the Pacific Motorway into the Shire be fitted with overhead gantries to enable installation of tolling points. All residents exempt from tolls. Tolling only of visitor vehicles so Council can raise much-needed revenues to assist with maintenance of local roads being damaged by influx of annual visitors. Regular delivery vehicles could apply for a 'local delivery' exemption. Truckers would be exempt from certain areas, like the Southern entry/exit, so as to acess services and the industrial area at South St. Maybe set the toll fairly low so as not to discourage tourists, perhaps $1.00 per entry? Figures show approx. 2 million ' visitor nights' in the Shire annually, so if even a quarter of these were individual entries, that would raise $500,000 per annum to spend on local roads. At zero cost to the local community, Council and ratepayers.
0 comment0buzzookover 2 years agoCoastal caravan park - not more "little boxes"
The RISE Delevelopment site on Phillip Drive currently has an old DAa for a 'tourist park'. This is all that should be allowed on that site. It should NOT be converted to residential housing. The campgrounds/caravan park at the Main Beach area is ALWAYS overcrowded and with significant un-met demand from caravan and camping tourists every year. The RISE site on Phillip Drive is a 50m walk from Trial Bay Beach. There is nowhere else on the coast such a large parcel of land exists that *could* be turned into lower-cost caravan and campground type facilities. This type of 'holiday experience' is what the Macleay coast is famous for. The locals don't want gentrification and the eventual high-rise that will turn our coastal villages into another Foster, or mini-Gold Coast. We must fight HARD to maintain the low-key, easy-going, small village atmosphere that both the locals AND the tourists flock here to experience. Council must ensure this development site does not become housing and is ONLY developed as low-key tourist facilities. Even if it means re-purchasing the land from the current owners via 'compulsory purchase' via the NSW Dept of Commerce. This area MUST be retained for low-key tourism. It is our principle "unique selling point" and we will do well not to ignore this. High-rise is NOT the answer, along our beaches.
0 comment0buzzookover 2 years agoMore campgrounds, especially along the beaches
As most beaches and their curtilage are controlled by National Parks, it is with some dismay I note the NP 'future plans' are to maintain the present small number of campgrounds available to visitors. As NSW population grows (which it will) this will mean increased demand and reduce the availability of campsites for those wishing to visit the Shire, thereby reducing revenues from tourism coming into the Shire. A compromise is needed. For example, large areas of the Limeburners/Goolawah area were strip mined for mineral sands 50 years ago. Most of that area has not recovered to its pre-industrial habitat. Ergo it is 'compromised' and not 'natural' habitat. Ergo *some* of it could surely be allocated/rezoned for camping, rather than just 'passive recreation', and the funds thus raised used to revegetate and improve the biodiversity of the rest of the area? There's something like 5000 hectares of degraded former coastal scrubland in the Limeburners/Goolawah area. If say 10 ha, along Plomer Rd, was opened up to camping? Perhaps with such areas being fallowed year on year to prevent wear and tear from campers? So every third 'site' in a campground would be fallow every year, enabling grass regrowth and management. Such a scheme would actually improve the appearance of the areas and make them more pleasant and less crowded, but would require a trebling of the number of sites just to maintain status quo.
0 comment0buzzookover 2 years agoBeachfront talking point - beach shacks
In numerous other places around the world - UK, Melbourne etc - well-known beaches are often known for their vernacular architecture - such as beach huts. St Kilda is a case in point. Originally designed as 'dressing rooms' for Victorian ladies, they are now an "icon" of these areas, a calling card, a drawcard, and a visible 'point of difference'. I suggest we create a 'Beach Huts' program to identify, what, and how such 'dressing sheds' could be built, and what payment required (like 50 year Crown Lease) and ongoing rental (for maintenance of the area). I'd suggest $5K for a 8' x 12' "plot" on which to construct a building no larger than 8' x 10' x 8' (approx the size of the St Kilda shacks). Rental of $200 per annum. The idea being that the sheds would be similar, so perhaps an "agreed design" that 'owners' could then personalise using different colours and so on. NOT to be lived in, or stayed in overnight, curfewed to 10pm, but with ability/right to add a small water tank (not more than 200L) and a solar array to provide water and power, use of gas BBQ ok..... Plots made available by ballot, first open to the locals near the beach, then to the rest of the Shire, and if any left, then to outsiders. Price capped, so no gouging for 're-sale'. These 'shed communities' in UK and St Kilda are 'self-policing' with something similar to a 355 Committee. We could add such structures at Creso, Hat Head, SWR back beach, Stuarts Pt....let's say 20-50 sheds per beach, that's 200 sheds @ $5K each, so $1 million to cover infrastructure costs (paths, access, etc) and $40K per annum to maintain it, ongoing. No vehicle access, all materials to be carried in by hand or wheelbarrow. Proper 'old skool' community building. But somewhere to keep the surfboards, wetsuits, towels and so on. Somewhere to keep the Esky or a small 12V fridge, a gathering place, a hut for fishermen to keep their gear in..... If designed properly to sit on screw piles/posts, minimal disruption to environment, no clearing, no cutting down of trees, huts to 'nestle' in amongst the bush along the edge of the beach, overlooking the waves. Make something "special" for our commjunity to use now and into the future, but which also makes the community 'unique' among similar beach-front communities on the coast.
0 comment0Steve MacDonaldalmost 3 years agoLooking Forward Comments by Steve MacDonald What to factor in for the years ahead for Kempsey Shire Council and the Macleay Community.
Looking Forward Comments by Steve MacDonald What to factor in for the years ahead for Kempsey Shire Council and the Macleay Community. How can a community through its governing body, the local Council, factor things in, that can come to fruition or even hopefully head in the best directions? What’s important to get right? These are interesting questions. More to the point, how can youth of the community be guided in such a way, to encourage them to see the benefits of living in the Shire? One of the determining factors will be vocational opportunities aligned to the inevitable changes to workplace demands, as time goes on. More questions…. What role can be played by this community which is geographically located between two capital cities? What job opportunities are currently foreseen and what will be the job requests, for say, the current High School students (let alone the Primary School students) in five years? What’s happening in the big wide world that the local community could embrace? There’s obviously a plethora of directions but what are they? Obviously, some are “no brainers” link with job opportunities that have been in place and will continue to need replacement workers. However, there are those other job opportunities that will require that bit of lateral thinking by Council and the community to secure further potential. In rapid fire, the following are a few of those potential fields; solar energy, electric vehicles technology (buses, trucks, cars, boats), hydrogen technology, communication technology (road, air, rail), aged care specialisation, tourism expansion just to name a few. I’m wondering whether Council sees its role as guiding, nurturing, assisting some of these pathways for those currently in the schools here in the valley. You know, a bit of that “we need you” but what is going to be offered? What is in that changing needs mix? I believe there is a vital role for Council to consider directions it could take and be on the front foot, considering ways that would assist vocational pathways that could generate and foster some of these employment opportunities; directions that need to be recognized as ways that are the future. (Comment…. Council may already be achieving some positive outcomes; things that I’m not aware of. My intention here is merely to prompt for better outcomes into the future). If I use electric vehicles as an example, numbers of electric vehicles (buses, trucks included) are bound to increase and will require charging stations (with a field of solar panels and batteries), specialised maintenance. Incentives could be offered to businesses for this green energy. Land for solar farms for example. (Note: I know that the small town of Yackandandah in Victoria has already installed a battery for the community to increase the use of green energy). The trucking industry is likely to stay as a necessary link, however, there is a need for this industry to change and go with the flow. This means opportunities for our area, halfway between Sydney and Brisbane. All this, may not be part of the Council’s current Vision or Mission Statement. I guess what I’m saying in this “Have Your Say”, is that for a short to medium plan, there are lots of directions that could be considered by Council so that it’s switched on to the ever-changing ways that we are all being challenged by these days. Climate change, Covid, drought, fires and floods seem to be all areas that have to be factored into our changing world. Regardless of these constraints/challenges, youth of our community is needing to be considered. Side-line comment…What perspective is there for the value of youth in our community? Should there be more being done for them in keeping youth “entertained/occupied” as they grow from babies through to young adults? Sure there’s a skateboard park, playgrounds, a swimming pool, sports fields, tennis courts, PCYC, the beach but should there be other things to engage youth, focus on youth. The money invested in youth is known to be never a waste of money; more a multiplier impact. Take the example of Riverside Park. As a question thrown in…Should there be more effort in these times in creating a better network of cycleways used not only by youth but all ages and families for safer passage on our busy roads? (Note…I understand that there has been some recent activity on paths but I’m talking about more expansion. This would be great also for tourism within the Shire. People these days have electric bikes and distance isn’t necessarily a problem in reaching villages within the Shire, so hence the demand for more extensive lengths of bike ways). The rhetoric question now is, how should Council factor in this rapidly changing world to make sure it can offer opportunities within the Shire that will be worthwhile and meaningful in the “grand plan” of things? Council’s Vision Statemen needs to show that it is “switched on” to the multitude of changes expected. As a Tail Piece…The Council is required to be multi-tasked. It’s doing a great job in so many ways already. My blurb is just to prompt to that next needed level. Thank You Steve MacDonald Resident of the Macleay 242 Mooneba Road, Mooneba.2440 0410866766 mooneba@hotmail.com May, 2021
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Key Dates
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June 2022
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March → April 2022
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December 2021 → February 2022
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May → October 2021
Who's listening
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Corporate Performance Coordinator
KP