The Lower Hunter Lands project will see the transition of 4,187 hectares of surplus ex-mining land in the Lower Hunter area of NSW to be used for conservation and development purposes. Approximately 80 per cent of the lands will be transferred to the state government for conservation purposes, upon the rezoning of 20 per cent for employment and residential development. There are five sites identified with development potential including Catherine Hill Bay, Nords Wharf, Gwandalan, Minmi/Link Road, and Black Hill.

Rio Tinto Coal Australia engaged Manidis Roberts to develop and implement a comprehensive stakeholder engagement strategy including two charettes to aid in the masterplan design for each site.

As well as an ongoing program of community relations delivered full time by a seconded staff member, we designed, documented and facilitated two four-day charettes. Each charette included around 25 community and stakeholder representatives and a client and consultant group of around 30 people. Through this input and the active participation of the community and other stakeholder participants at the charette, the concept masterplans achieved excellent outcomes against all the project criteria.