High Speed Rail Position Statement

 

 

The Boards of Regional Development Australia Central Coast (RDA Central Coast) and Regional Development Australia Hunter (RDA Hunter) met recently to investigate opportunities for greater collaboration, determine shared priorities and enhance advocacy through joining forces on a multi-regional scale to assist both regions to achieve their full potential.

RDA Hunter represents the interests of 726,000 residents (forecast to grow to 856,000 by 2036) and RDA Central Coast, 350,000 residents (forecast to grow to 415,000 by 2036).  This presents a compelling opportunity to be a united voice for more than 1 million current residents, that will grow to close to 1.3 million people by 2036.

This opportunity to advocate on behalf of both regions at a state and federal level resulted in a number of joint Board initiatives including a unified approach to support and inform the NSW Government’s investigation into a fast rail connecting the Hunter and Central Coast regions to Sydney and business case development.

RDA Hunter and Central Coast, being the two most affected RDA’s for the potential northern route of the NSW fast rail network, express our collective assistance and support to the NSW Government in the implementation and delivery of the Fast Rail Network Strategy.

The Central Coast and Newcastle regions offer affordable housing while enabling people to commute to employment clusters for work. The region offers economic development opportunities, with improvements in rail services directly benefiting travel, trade, tourism and regional economic development.

The unprecedented collaboration effort between the Central Coast and Hunter regions will ensure a non-biased and non-political collective voice on behalf of our communities.

As a collective of highly experienced staff and board members who possess a thorough understanding of the needs, opportunities and challenges facing our regions, we are uniquely positioned as the ideal conduit between all three levels of government, businesses, key regional stakeholders and our communities to ensure the best outcome possible from essential connectivity initiatives such as High Speed Rail.

We look forward to working proactively with the NSW Government and all of our regional partners to enhance the competitive advantages of our vibrant and growing regional economies.