Community Strategic Plan
What's it all about?
The Community Strategic Plan 2042: Your Future(PDF, 4MB) is a document that outlines a 20-year plan for the Kempsey Shire community.
The plan captures:
- our community’s vision for the future and long-term goals
- strategies to reach these goals
- how we can measure our progress.
How is the plan made?
Council revises the Community Strategic Plan every four years to make sure it captures our community’s vision for Kempsey Shire in 20 years' time.
The current plan is called 2042: Your Future. The previous plan was called Macleay Valley 2036(PDF, 6MB)
To create the current plan, Council collected feedback and data from community surveys, events and organisations across the Macleay Valley.
Council formally adopted the Community Strategic Plan 2042: Your Future at its 26 April 2022 Ordinary Meeting.
What does our community want?
The information collected from our community reveals clear directions and expectations for the future.
We've sorted this information into categories based on what the community values, needs and is concerned about.
We value
- Natural beauty of the coastal, rural and hinterland environments
- Retaining people in the valley with access to relevant services and opportunities
- Our diverse cultures, lifestyles and history
- Agricultural, commercial and industrial opportunities to expand our economy
- Access to built and natural infrastructure to enable active lifestyles
- Relaxed rural lifestyle
- Our physical and emotional connection with the Macleay River
We need
- Homes, infrastructure and community networks that can withstand natural disasters
- To reflect our heritage and culture in the streets and public spaces
- Greater access to transport, education, health services and affordable housing
- Enterprising businesses and employment generation as a tourism destination
- Collaborative and inclusive decision making
- Events where we can participate, connect and inspire
We're concerned about
- Whether the built environment retains the local character
- Planning infrastructure that can withstand impacts of population and climate change
- Loss of our green space and natural beauty
- Opportunities, safety and employment for young people
- The quality and maintenance of our roads and infrastructure
- Creating safe places to live and visit
- Ageing population and services and housing needs for this group
Where do we want to be?
The vision statement below reflects our community's priorities, ideas and strengths. It’s a postcard from the future, declaring in a single statement what the community wants to be.
Our vision
From the mountains to the sea, our people are given the opportunities and infrastructure to build a safe, welcoming and sustainable community. Marrungbu.
What are our focus areas?
The Community Strategic Plan lists four central focus areas for Kempsey Shire. These will guide the community in delivering its vision for the future. For each focus area, the plan sets out:
- what we're working towards
- how we'll get there
- who can help.
Focus area 1: Enhancing and protecting our natural and built environment
Focus area 2: Boosting and evolving Kempsey Shire's prosperous economy
Focus area 3: Creating and celebrating a supportive, connected community
Focus area 4: Valued, informed leadership that engages and inspires the community
Why is our plan important and how does it fit?
Everyone has a role in our plan's success
The plan sets the direction for the whole of Kempsey Shire. All of our community, including government agencies, business, the not-for-profit sector and our residents, play a role in its success.
Our plan reflects local, state and national plans
The goals and strategies in the plan have been developed to align with and reflect principles in a broad range of national, state and local plans.
Our plan helps Council be accountable to the community
The plan also provides a way for Council to be accountable to the community and the NSW Government. Every Community Strategic Plan is reviewed in the year after a local government election, and a progress report on the plan's implementation is presented to outgoing Councillors at the end of their term.
Our plan is an overarching document that guides Council
The relationship between this plan and Council's other important planning documents is demonstrated in the Integrated Planning and Reporting Framework.
What can I do to help meet my community's vision?
There are many ways you can help to create a safe, welcoming and sustainable community:
- Join a community group or committee
- Advocate to improve your community
- Attend and support local cultural venues, events and activities
- As a community, celebrate our successes
- Become an organ donor
- Become a volunteer
- Develop leadership skills in young people
- Do regular exercise
- Get involved in sporting and recreational activities
- Get to know your neighbours
- Give blood
- Have fun in our public spaces
- Keep your neighbourhood clean and tidy
- Learn about local history
- Learn some Danghatti language
- Learn a new skill
- Look out for others
- Observe the speed limit, keep to 50km/hour in local neighbourhood streets
- Plant a tree
- Promote multiculturalism
- Put your elderly neighbour’s bin out
- Recycle
- Run as a candidate for Council
- Support local events and festivals
- Walk or ride around your neighbourhood