Hinterland Place Plan

The Hinterland of Port Stephens is a district of small villages and rural communities, defined by its three rivers, and the rich agricultural lands. It is located west of Raymond Terrace and extends upriver as far as Glen Oak in the east and Duns Creek in the west.

The Hinterland continues to grow with almost 6,000 people calling the Hinterland home. There’s so much opportunity to improve connectivity (including walking and cycle paths), new experiences and bespoke local business. Growing the visitor economy is one way to achieve this and was a priority discussion during community engagement activities back in 2020.

Council is working on connecting the community’s aspirations for the Hinterland with the sites and people who can deliver them. Opportunities for the community to lead these ideas have been explored and will be prioritised, so ideas and concepts can be directly aligned with the Hinterland’s competitive advantages.

This Place Plan will consolidate the Hinterland’s strengths, ambitions, and identify short, medium and long-term actions that Council and the communities can work on to create opportunities. This Place Plan also sets out a pathway to nurture everything that’s already great about the Hinterland!

Liveability score

In August 2020, we teamed up with Place Score to complete our first-ever place census. Over 3,700 people across the LGA, including people who live, play and visit The Hinterland, told us what they value and how they rate the district. The survey results helped us identify the priorities for the Hinterland community and plan accordingly.

Download the Liveability index for Hinterland to learn more about what the residents said they value most in this area.

Place Plan phases

We’re currently in phase 3 - we're collating all the feedback from the Hinterland Place Plan survey and drop-in sessions held at the Woodville Coffee Cubby (29 April) and Seaham General Store (5 May).

This page will be updated as milestones are achieved. Watch this space to see the progress of the Hinterland Place Plan.

Get involved

Contact our Place Planning Project Manager on 4988 0402 or via email on placeplanning@portstephens.nsw.gov.au to arrange a time to talk about your place planning idea, project or register your interest.