At over 313 hectares and just 3 km west of Newcastle’s CBD, Shelter NSW agrees with the assessment that Broadmeadow’s central location; existing and future public transport opportunities; tracts of public land and large industrial sites provide a considerable opportunity for urban renewal.  

Shelter NSW commends the NSW Government and the City of Newcastle for working together over several years to develop the Draft Broadmeadow Place Strategy, a plan for major urban renewal. The area will change in three stages 0-10, 10-20 and then 20-30 years with significant population growth expected.  

We were happy to make a submission on the place strategy as well as the separate but supporting Department of Planning’s Rezoning Plan which seeks to rezone certain parcels of land to catalyse development.  

The Broadmeadow precinct infill opportunity is a once-in-a-generation project and – all going to plan – it will be a highly desirable place to live and for people to relocate to. However, the traditional working-class roots of Broadmeadow will be lost if low-income and essential worker households are not actively accommodated. 

Our submission calls for an explicit commitment to ensuring that Broadmeadow will be a place that low-income people and households (of all tenures) can genuinely afford to live in; in well-built and designed homes, buildings and public spaces and with access to valued low-cost (or free) services and facilities (commercial, health, retail and hospitality).

A concept image of the proposed future Broadmeadow. Source: Newcastle Herald