IT'S one of the fastest growing suburbs in the Hunter and now Lake Macquarie City Council wants the community to help guide its future.
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Morisset is tipped to become home to more than 12,000 extra residents in the next 20 years, and the council's integrated planning manager Wes Hain said they want feedback on a strategy to support its growth.
"It's no secret that Morisset is undergoing a lot of change right now, with new residential and commercial developments bringing new residents, jobs and investment to our city's south," he said.
"The regionally significant growth area of Morisset, which includes the town centre, areas south of Morisset Station, north of Awaba Street and west towards the M1 could be home to an extra 12,000-plus residents by 2041.
"It's important that we develop a plan to manage and make the most of this growth potential, while protecting and enhancing what people already love about Morisset."
A place strategy is basically a blueprint that rezones land to enable more housing, services and jobs and balances that with biodiversity conservation, flood and bushfire threats.
It's also hoped it will help attract investment from the state government and other sectors - giving them confidence in Morisset's future.
It will look at future transport needs and areas suited for development, with opportunities for multi-storey commercial, mixed-use and residential development on the horizon.
According to the plan, in the future Morisset will be a 'vibrant strategic centre' with a robust local economy 'that has successfully navigated a transition to non-carbon intensive energy'.
With a number of mines, Vales Point Power Station and Eraring set to close by the end of the decade, the council wants to transition the economy to cater to the demand for renewables.
It also wants to facilitate a growing lifestyle and tourism market, health services, goods distribution and urban food production.
The University of Newcastle's Institute for Regional Futures has developed four scenarios with different potential outcomes for business and employment, land use planning, housing supply and demand, social infrastructure, connectivity, infrastructure and community services.
The first, 'Morisset As Usual', would see the town 'limited' by current planning controls with a low number of land consolidations, opportunistic infill developments and little investment in physical and social infrastructure.
The next scenario, 'Inner Core', would promote density around the suburb's centre by changing residential planning controls. It would re-create the CBD as a 'vibrant social heart' with streets around the train station like Yambo and Dora streets turned into priority spaces for pedestrians.
A bypass would be investigated to reduce through-traffic while the Morisset Community Hub is brought to life, designed to serve as a 'catalyst for private investment in Morisset Central'.
The third plan, called 'Gateway Morisset', builds on the last scenario. It leverages the town's geographic advantages as a strategic road and rail corridor, driving the intensification of Morisset Central and commercial, agricultural and industrial land uses next to the M1.
It's based around the anticipated introduction of faster rail through the Sydney, Central Coast and Newcastle improvements, making Morisset a 'destination of choice' for weekends and getaways. It supports larger festivals and events attracting more visitors to the area.
The fourth scenario, 'Morisset City' is the 'full realisation of development' across the town - maximising residential and employment land.
The staged release of urban development areas would see the population boom expand into new greenfield sites. Infrastructure investment would precede the population with transport links provided across the region.
That scenario also leverages the town's proximity to the M1 to support employment in west Mandalong Road including freight, warehousing and logistics to complement nearby centres.
In the fourth scenario, the council would need to investigate the possibility of potential growth areas outside the plan's boundary, including the Eraring Power Station site, former Morisset Hospital site and transition zoned lands in Morisset and Bonnells Bay.
The scenarios aren't mutually exclusive, but the council hopes the community can give consideration and feedback as to where the city is headed.
Mayor Kay Fraser said it's location, transport links and emerging development will make Morisset a crucial focus of the city's growth and prosperity in years to come.
"There is so much potential in Morisset and surrounding suburbs, but we need to make sure we can realise that with minimal impact," she said.
Feedback closes July 31, for more information visit the council's website.
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Madeline Link
Madeline Link is a journalist at the Newcastle Herald, with a focus on Lake Macquarie City Council. To keep up with my stories, follow my Twitter @madeline_link, for tips email madeline.link@newcastleherald.com.au.
Madeline Link is a journalist at the Newcastle Herald, with a focus on Lake Macquarie City Council. To keep up with my stories, follow my Twitter @madeline_link, for tips email madeline.link@newcastleherald.com.au.
