MidCoast’s Vision

The 20-year strategic planning vision for the MidCoast is shown in Table 1 (next page).

This vision is identified in MidCoast 2030: Shared Vision, Shared Responsibility (the CSP), which is the community’s plan for the future of our region. It was developed from an extensive consultation process that spanned over 18 months following the formation of MidCoast Council. The CSP expresses the vision and values for the MidCoast and outlines how we must work with our community to make these become a reality. The CSP includes five key values: • strong leadership and shared vision • unique, diverse and culturally rich communities • connected communities • our environment

• our thriving and growing economy

Under these values we outline where we want to be, how we will get there, who can help and how we will know once we have arrived.

The CSP provides the foundations for this Statement – the vision and the key values. The CSP strategies relating to land use planning are identified in Table 1 below.

STRONG LEADERSHIP AND SHARED VISION:

• Partner with State and Federal Governments in delivering local priorities and services • Improve community understanding of decision making • Empower the community to participate in decision making • Participate in initiatives for regional cooperation and collaboration

OUR UNIQUE, DIVERSE AND CULTURALLY RICH COMMUNITIES:

• Support a diverse housing mix • Empower our towns and villages to retain and celebrate their unique identity • Support communities to be sustainable into the future

• Preserve our unique history and cultural heritage

A CONNECTED COMMUNITY:

• Encourage public spaces, facilities and events that strengthen social connections • Use technology to improve the way we live, learn and connect

• Encourage the use of alternate transport options • Promote and enhance community safety

OUR ENVIRONMENT:

• Protect and manage the health and diversity of our natural assets, wildlife and ecosystems • Understand and manage climate change impacts and risks • Protect, maintain and restore water quality • Manage our resource consumption • Ensure new development and growth compliments our natural, cultural and heritage assets

• Optimise land use to meet environmental, social, economic and development needs • Greater utilisation of sustainable design • Encourage well-designed streetscapes in centres

A THRIVING AND GROWING ECONOMY:

• Develop our region as an attractive visitor destination

• Innovative projects and programs to create vibrant spaces • Develop strategies and processes that foster sustainable economic growth • Encourage growth in agribusiness

Table 1 – Summary of key Community Strategic Plan strategies relevant to this Statement

In order to identify planning priorities from these strategies, we examined findings from our recent consultation (‘Zoning In’ 2020 and the Community Satisfaction Survey 2020). This re-affirmed our planning focus to achieve the vision. In summary, our planning needs to: • enhance our liveability – people love where they live and they feel safe. They have a passion for retaining and enhancing local character and seek better access to services and facilities. • protect our natural environment – with 98% of the MidCoast area being rural and environmental lands, protecting our natural environment is important as it has strong links to our liveability, tourism and economic growth. • increase economic opportunities – supporting local businesses and jobs rates high with the community in importance. • empower our community to shape our future – the community seeks improved information and involvement in decision making and long-term planning. The MidCoast Regional Economic Development Strategy (REDS) guided the development of the economic priorities. REDS identifies our three regional strengths which are built upon in this Statement, being: • our land and water assets

• our infrastructure, and our location

• lifestyle and amenity.