Written by
14/12/2023
The Secretary of the NSW Department of Planning and Environment has issued her environmental assessment requirements for a major industrial and logistics hub in the Hunter Region.
The proposed development is located at 1134 John Renshaw Drive in Black Hill and includes construction of 2 x new warehouses, together with an industrial subdivision. The site is 210.9 hectares in size and will be delivered in 3 x stages – 1, 1A and 1B. Stage 1, which is the subject of current application before the Department, is for a 9 x lot subdivision, including 7 x industrial lots. A significant amount of bulk earthworks are required to bring the plans to fruition.
Stage 1 will deliver circa 830,000 square metres of suitable industrial land. A future subdivision of will deliver more employment and will be subject to a separate application. A total of 750 direct jobs will be created, together with over 1600 construction jobs, providing huge economic benefit to Cessnock.
The site and its context
The site was previously used as a poultry farm for chicken and egg-farming, as well as for veterinarian services from the early 1960s. A master plan was created for the site between 2011 and 2014 to facilitate the rezoning of the site to industrial.
A 39 x lot subdivision was lodged on the site in 2018 but this was refused by the local planning panel based on unresolved traffic impacts. Despite this refusal, most of the relevant government agencies supported the proposal. In 2020, a subdivision of the site into 2 x super lots was refused by the NSW Land and Environment Court in 2022 on traffic and access grounds only.
Hunter Regional Plan 2041 has a vision for the Hunter Region to be the leading regional economy in Australia with a vibrant metropolitan city as its heart and sustainable 15-minute neighbourhoods. This project demonstrates clear employment-generating outcomes and will assist in achieving the intended outcomes of the regional plan.
The site has a long way to go before industrial sheds are built on the site.
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