Social Impact Assessment of the Lower Hunter Regional Strategy
Hunter New England Area Health Service & NSW Premier’s Department
The Lower Hunter Regional Strategy prepared by the Department of Planning identifies how development in the region will be managed on a sustainable basis over the next 25 years. The Strategy, projecting a population increase of 125 000 people, has the potential to influence the health and social well-being of the community and the equitable access to, and distribution of services across the region.
In order to ensure that further disadvantage is not created by the implementation of the Strategy, the Hunter Regional Coordination Management Group, comprising of senior representatives of state government agencies from the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, completed an equity-focused Social Impact Assessment of the Strategy. A draft version of the Strategy was released for public comment on 4 November 2005 and the Social Impact Assessment was produced in response to this release.