'More than a mining town': Singleton's tourism brand outlined in recently adopted 10-year Community Strategic Plan

Mayor Sue Moore said while regional economic concerns can't be ignored, "overwhelming" feedback from the community focused on "lifestyle and livability".

"Council staff have been out and actively engaging for months and it thoroughly came back that cycleways, footpaths and events are a top priority," Cr Moore said.

"Even through we have well over fifty per cent of our population employed in an industry related to mining, we don't believe in the stigma of being a mining town."

On Tuesday night, Singleton council adopted their Community Strategic Plan 2022-32 (CSP). The plan outlines council's objectives for the next 10 years, guided by community feedback.

While there were nine written submissions received for the CSP, there were more than 2000 feedback "interactions" across platforms including Facebook.

Adopted alongside the CSP are the Delivery Program 2022/ 2026 and Operational Plan 2022/ 2023. These documents outline short-term steps council will take to achieve large-scale objectives in the CSP.

A strategy in the CSP is to "improve transport connectivity and support sustainable alternatives". The operational plan allocates around $50,000 in the 2022/23 financial year for work on the Civic Avenue cycleway.

Other funding for outdoor facilities includes more than $1 million athletics facilities and $1.6 million for extension of rugby league amenities building at Pirtek Park.

All three plans look at strategies to develop Singleton's "brand", "identity" and "Tourism Strategy".

Cr Moore said an important part of the CSP is its focus on cultural events and a plan to "support and promote [the] Visitor Economy to encourage Singleton LGA as a tourism destination". She said the Singleton Arts and Cultural Centre, opened in March, will play a crucial role in this area.

"Some of the tourism elements come back to the arts and culture," Cr Moore said. "We will have new events turning over in the Cultural Centre every month."

Cr Moore also said the growth of events such as Firelight Festival and a focus on Singleton's heritage value will help to grow visitor numbers in the town.

"We had Destination NSW and Destination Sydney here and they were blown away with our Firelight event and were quite taken with our heritage buildings," Cr Moore said.

"There is a lot of value in our heritage buildings and we've only recently realised how significant some of these old pubs and churches are and that people are visiting town to look at those and are enjoying looking at those.

"It's about opening up opportunities that are economic development but are also lifestyle. Go out and enjoy a meal but have a look around Singleton rather than just driving through."

While Cr Moore said many people are concerned the proposed Singleton bypass would hinder tourism opportunity, she disagreed.

"The way the bypass is designed now will allow people to come into town easily and to come here for Singleton."

While much of the CSP focusses on Singleton's "brand", Cr Moore said the region's economic future is still a major concern.

A strategy in the CSP is to "attract new investment to increase the diversity and resilience of the Singleton economy".

This is supported by a number of actions outlined in the operational plan to engage with government, industry and university in order to unlock the town's economic potential.

Key to this, Cr Moore said, is the need for policy support around mine buffer land.

"We need to unlock that buffer land and we also need better planning around what the rehabilitated land would be," she said.

"The mining plan might say this has to be grazing for trees but that might be an ideal location for solar or wind turbines.

"At the moment, if mines wish to adjust those consents they open themselves up to having their approval taken away."

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