Villages Local Character Statements & Public Domain Plans

For this phase of the project, we are calling on the community to provide input on which villages are important to them and reasons why. To facilitate this, we are hosting a series of face-to-face drop in and phone consultation sessions where residents can find out more and have their say. 

DROP-IN INFORMATION SESSIONS - please register to ensure we are complying with COVID restrictions for venue capacity. If further restrictions come into place, the sessions will be moved online and take place via Zoom. Please do not attend if you are unwell and while face masks aren't mandatory, they are recommended. 

An additional consultation session will be held on Thursday 28 April from 3pm to 6pm at Wollombi Tennis Club, 2979 Paynes Crossing Road, Wollombi - REGISTER HERE

Tuesday 1 March 2022, 3pm to 6pm at Wollombi Community Hall, 2895 Wollombi Road, Wollombi - REGISTER HERE 

Wednesday 2 March 2022, 3pm to 6pm at Ellalong Community Hall, 41 Olney Street, Ellalong - REGISTER HERE 

Tuesday 8 March 2022, 3pm to 6pm at Abermain Plaza Hall, 3 Bathurst Street, Abermain - REGISTER HERE 

Thursday 10 March 2022, 3pm to 6pm at Mulbring School of Arts Hall, 12 Short Street, Mulbring - REGISTER HERE 

Thursday 17 March 2022, 3pm to 6pm at the Greta Arts and Sports Community Hall, 1 Walter Street, Greta - REGISTER HERE 

PHONE SESSIONS - 15 minute individual session via phone

Tuesday 22 February 2022, 1pm to 4 pm - REGISTER HERE 

Thursday 24 February 2022, 9am to 12pm - REGISTER HERE 

Wednesday 2 March 2022, 9pm to 12pm - REGISTER HERE 

Friday 11 March 2022, 9am to 12pm - REGISTER HERE 

Monday 14 March 2022, 1pm to 4pm - REGISTER HERE 

Share what you love about your local village and what you'd like to see in the future by completing our online survey. The survey is open until Friday 31 March. 

Click the link below to have your say on one or all of the the 15 local villages identified in this project via the interactive map. 

It’s easy to share your ideas and comments on the map:

1. Zoom in to the location you are interested in
2. Click ‘add comment’ and select the appropriate marker
3. Drag it to the location you have chosen
4. Add comments or even a photo

Written submissions must be received by 5pm on Thursday 31 March March 2022 and should quote “Villages Character Statements and Public Domain Plans”.

Written submissions should be addressed to the General Manager and can be submitted by:

Email: council@cessnock.nsw.gov.au

Post: PO Box 152, Cessnock NSW 2325 

Local character is what makes a place or area distinctive or unique. Local character is the combination of multiple factors, which relate to an area’s history, built form, public and private spaces, community values, and how they connect to a place. 

Local character is influenced by social, economic, and environmental factors (see image below). 

A Local Character Statement pulls together these factors to describe a locality.  The Statement can be used to inform land use planning decisions.

Public domain are those areas of a place which are generally visible from the street, and can include roads, laneways, road verges, pedestrian infrastructure (such as footpaths or shared pathways), parks, playgrounds and the like.

A Public Domain Plan identifies opportunities to improve these areas.

The villages/localities included in this project are:

• Abermain
• Abernethy
• Ellalong
• Greta
• Kearsley
• Kitchener
• Laguna
• Millfield
• Mulbring
• Neath
• North Rothbury
• Paxton
• Pelaw Main
• Stanford Merthyr
• Wollombi

Each village, while being its own discrete entity, is connected to other villages and towns by roads, formal and informal tracks, environmental corridors, heritage, and economic activity to form a hub and spoke wheel of interconnectedness.  Each village and its people combine to form the Cessnock LGA (see image below).

While each village is a discrete entity, some villages may exhibit similar features and characteristics to other villages, particularly those near each other.  For this reason, this project may 'group' villages with like characteristics for the purposes of preparing Local Character Statements. Additionally, some villages may not warrant a specific Local Character Statement. This is open for discussion.