Experts dream big with new ideas for Newcastle A new plan from the Property Council demonstrates the industry’s willingness to “dream big” and lead the Steel City’s revitalisation.The plan, called Maximum Opportunity, responds to UrbanGrowth NSW’s plan for the heavy rail corridor, and positions Newcastle as Australia’s “first regional city” of the Asia Pacific.Developed by local industry experts in design, development, infrastructure and planning, the scheme promises to leverage Newcastle’s natural advantages to create destinations that are “people magnets”.Speaking to the Newcastle Herald, the Property Council’s regional director for the Hunter Andrew Fletcher said the plan demonstrates that the private sector is willing to ”dream big” and lead the city’s revitalisation.Fletcher says the city needed to attract more international tourists, particularly those from Asia.”We need this globally competitive tourism and an attraction which would anchor Newcastle as a destination of significance in the Asia-Pacific region.”The plan includes the creation of a National Indigenous Cultural Institute, which would house the world’s largest collection of Australian indigenous art and artefacts. Representatives of the Awabakal Aboriginal Land Council support the proposal, which would celebrate indigenous culture through art exhibitions, interpretive displays, performance spaces and teaching facilities.The Property Council recommends more open space than proposed by UrbanGrowth NSW, as well as more public amenity and fewer developable sites.The plan includes revitalisation of existing parks and public spaces, including a festival park, labyrinth, skate plaza and water play space. A “new edge” to the waterfront would allow a “procession of public plazas” from the ceremonial heart of the city to the waterfront.A new integrated transport strategy would preserve the heavy rail corridor as an East-West link across the city centre, and repurpose it as a cycle transitway.The Property Council also recommends an overhaul of planning provisions to support innovative design solutions for the adaptive reuse of heritage buildings.Member for Newcastle Tim Crakanthorp has welcomed the Property Council’s “progressive proposal”, particularly the expansion of the ferry network and the importance of the city height limits.Download the Taskforce on Revitalising Newcastle submission, Maximum Opportunity.
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