Newcastle 2030 is a shared community vision and 10-year Community Strategic Plan developed as a guide to inform planning and actions throughout the city. 

The Community Strategic Plan contains:

• seven strategic directions
• 23 objectives we want to achieve over the next ten years
• strategies for achieving our goals.

The key strategic direction for the Newcastle environment is

Protected and enhanced environment – our unique environment will be understood, maintained and protected.

As identified in the Community Strategic Plan, the objectives include:

• greater efficiency in the use of resources
• our unique natural environment is maintained, enhanced and connected
• environment and climate change risks and impacts are understood and managed.

Strategies identified to achieve these objectives include:

• improve waste minimisation and recycling practices in homes, work places, development sites and public places
• investigate and implement alternative energy technologies, such as wind, solar and harnessing landfill gas
• educate, promote and support low consumption, sustainable lifestyles
• maximise water efficiency and recycling through a number of means including capturing stormwater, encouraging substitution of potable water with alternative supply and improving water usage behaviour
• encourage and support active community participation in local environmental projects
• protect and rehabilitate degraded and fragmented natural areas and manage major impacts on corridors, remnant bushland, estuaries and coastal areas
• protect the diversity of flora, fauna and ecological communities, with a particular emphasis on threatened species and endangered ecological communities
• ensure that future land use planning and management enhances and protects biodiversity and natural heritage
• improve environmental monitoring and reporting
• develop and communicate a clear understanding of environmental and climate change risks
• engage the community in risk management processes and ensure transparency in communicating decisions on risk treatment options and the implementation of action plan/s to enhance the community’s ability to cope with what may be considered severe measures
• ensure that all actions, decisions and policy response to climate change remains current and reflects capacity, community expectations and changes in environmental and climate change information.

See Newcastle 2030 homepage for more information.