DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING, INDUSTRY JULY 2020 AND ENVIRONMENT PUBLIC WAGGA WAGGA SPECIAL ACTIVATION PRECINCT COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE ASSESSMENT Wagga Wagga Special Activation Precinct Community and Social Infrastructure Assessment Department of Planning, Industry and Environment WSP Level 1, 121 Marcus Clarke Street Canberra ACT 2601 PO Box 1551 Canberra ACT 2600 Tel: +61 2 6201 9600 Fax: +61 2 6201 9666 wsp.com REV DATE DETAILS A 01/11/2019 Draft B 20/11/2019 Final C 09/07/2020 Revised Final NAME DATE SIGNATURE Prepared by: Liesl Codrington 09/07/2020 Reviewed by: Stephanie Luyks 09/07/2020 Approved by: Stephanie Luyks 09/07/2020 This document may contain confidential and legally privileged information, neither of which are intended to be waived, and must be used only for its intended purpose. Any unauthorised copying, dissemination or use in any form or by any means other than by the addressee, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this document in error or by any means other than as authorised addressee, please notify us immediately and we will arrange for its return to us. PS114509-STE-REP-002 RevC Public July 2020 TABLE OF EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................ IV CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................... 1 1.1 OVERVIEW .............................................................................. 1 2 PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT ............................................ 2 2.1 STRUCTURE OF THIS REPORT ............................................. 2 3 METHODOLOGY .................................................................. 3 3.1 ASSUMPTIONS AND LIMITATIONS ........................................ 3 4 LOCAL CONTEXT ................................................................ 4 4.1 STUDY AREA .......................................................................... 4 4.2 WAGGA WAGGA SAP............................................................. 4 4.3 LOCAL TRENDS AND PERSPECTIVES .................................. 5 4.4 LOCAL INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT ............................. 8 4.5 POLICY CONTEXT ................................................................ 10 5 EXISTING COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE ........................................................... 13 5.1 EXISTING SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE ................................ 13 5.2 SPORTING, OPEN SPACE AND RECREATION .................... 23 5.3 PLACES OF COMMUNITY SIGNIFICANCE ........................... 24 6 BEST PRACTICE AND INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS ........................................................................ 25 6.1 PLANNING “SOFT INFRASTRUCTURE” ALONGSIDE HARD INFRASTRUCTURE .............................. 25 6.2 SHIFTING NARRATIVE TO BE FUTURE FOCUSSED ........... 25 6.3 PROVISION OF A CENTRAL HUB ........................................ 26 6.4 INTERNATIONAL EXAMPLES............................................... 27 6.5 INCLUSIVE EMPLOYMENT ................................................... 28 6.6 NSW GOVERNMENT CULTURAL INVESTMENT .................. 28 6.7 ALIGNMENT TO THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS ....................................................... 29 CONTENTS (Continued) 7 SCENARIO TESTING AND DEVELOPMENT ................ 30 7.1 COMMUNITIES AND PLACE STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK ........................................................................ 30 7.2 SHORT LISTED SCENARIOS ................................................ 32 7.3 FINAL MASTERPLAN ............................................................ 38 8 POPULATION PROJECTIONS ........................................ 39 8.1 SUMMARY OF POPULATION PROJECTIONS ...................... 39 8.2 SUMMARY OF EMPLOYMENT PROJECTIONS .................... 41 9 STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT .................................... 42 9.1 COMMUNITY AND STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT OVERVIEW ............................................................................ 42 9.2 CONSULTATION KEY THEMES AND ISSUES ...................... 43 9.3 EMPLOYEE SURVEY OF EXISTING BOMEN BUSINESSES......................................................................... 46 10 NEEDS ASSESSMENT...................................................... 49 11 RESULTS ............................................................................. 59 11.1 FUTURE PROVISION OF SERVICES AND FACILITIES ............................................................................ 59 11.2 DEVELOP A WORLD LEADING, SOCIAL BEST PRACTICE AND WORLD LEADING PRECINCT ................... 60 11.3 MAINTAINING VALUES AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT .............................................................................. 60 11.4 STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT ........................................... 61 11.5 EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ............................................ 61 BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................. 62 LIST OF TABLES TABLE 3.1 METHODOLOGY ........................................................................3 TABLE 4.1 CENTRAL WEST DEMOGRAPHICS – TAKEN FROM ABS 2016 DATA .........................................................................5 TABLE 5.1 OVERVIEW OF COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE IN WAGGA WAGGA LGA ......................... 13 TABLE 7.1 KEY CONSIDERATIONS FOR CONCEPT SCENARIOS ........... 31 TABLE 8.1 WAGGA WAGGA LGA POPULATION GROWTH PROJECTIONS – TOTAL POPULATION ................................... 39 TABLE 8.2 WAGGA WAGGA LGA POPULATION GROWTH PROJECTIONS – SUMMARY AGE PROFILES ......................... 39 TABLE 8.3 WAGGA WAGGA SAP EMPLOYMENT SCENARIOS – AGGREGATE AT END OF PERIOD .......................................... 41 TABLE 10.1 COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROVISIONS, BENCHMARKS AND FUTURE DEMANDS ASSESSMENT ....................................................... 50 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1.1 THE FIVE CORE COMPONENTS OF A SAP (NSW GOVERNMENT, 2019) ................................................................1 FIGURE 4.1 INVESTIGATION AREA OF WAGGA WAGGA SAP .....................5 FIGURE 4.2 REGIONAL NSW OVERVIEW, STATE INFRASTRUCTURE STRATEGY .............................................. 10 FIGURE 5.1 WAGGA WAGGA TOWN SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE ................................................................. 16 FIGURE 5.2 COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE LOCATED NORTH OF WAGGA WAGGA AND NEAR BOMEN BUSINESS PARK ........................................................ 17 FIGURE 7.1 SCENARIO 4 – HIGH GROWTH, WEST/EAST DEVELOPMENT ....................................................................... 32 FIGURE 7.2 SCENARIO 5 – COMPACT DEVELOPMENT BASED ON THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY ............................................... 34 FIGURE 7.3 SCENARIO 7 – HIGH GROWTH SCENARIO ............................ 36 FIGURE 7.4 DRAFT MASTERPLAN ............................................................. 38 LIST OF APPENDICES APPENDIX A BASELINE REPORT APPENDIX B STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT PLAN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTRODUCTION This report documents a Community and Social Infrastructure Needs Assessment for Wagga Wagga Special Activation Precinct (SAP). SAPs are unique in Regional NSW as they bring together planning and investment support. The Wagga Wagga SAP has been selected to take advantage of its central location, connections to major Australian cities via road and rail, existing agribusiness, manufacturing and freight and logistics industries and its connection with the inland rail, including the Riverina Intermodal Freight and Logistics Hub. COMMUNITY PROFILE AND VALUES Wagga Wagga is situated 455 kilometres south west of Sydney with a current population of 64,800. Wagga Wagga is the largest regional centre in New South Wales, and the major centre in the surrounding region. The existing primary industries are agribusiness, manufacturing and freight and logistics. The community values are strong, and there is a particular importance placed on sport and recreation, and arts and culture. There is a strong feeling of pride in the city and its community – of its welcoming atmosphere, strong cohesion especially in times of trial, the lifestyle provided and comparatively affordable living. Stakeholders in Wagga Wagga have highlighted some community challenges, particularly in inequality and disparity between the advantaged and disadvantaged, public transport services, job security and the need for the full range of housing and lifestyle choices and services that are expected in a city. The opportunities associated with growth of Wagga Wagga present other challenges in terms of the difficulty of attracting and retaining sufficient medical practitioners, teachers and skilled staff to service the current population. The rapid growth in Wagga Wagga is likely to stretch emergency services resources further, as well as place strains on existing community and social infrastructure more generally. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, against NSW averages, Wagga Wagga has: − high proportion of Australian born and English speaking − lower weekly incomes − low unemployment and high workforce participation − a very high number of separate houses − high home ownership − high numbers of school aged children and elderly residents − a high level of volunteers − high indigenous population. POPULATION PROJECTIONS Without the Special Activation Precinct, Wagga Wagga population projections would still grow but at a slower rate than with the Special Activation Precinct in place. Without the Special Activation Precinct, Wagga Wagga would grow to 86,700