The Upper Hunter Mining Dialogue held the 2024 Community Forum in Singleton on 29 October 2024.
The Forum was a valuable opportunity for more than 140 community and wider stakeholders to come together, hear updates on key Dialogue projects and have their say on issues impacting the Upper Hunter region.
Many of the themes at the Forum followed on from the discussions at the 2022 Forum in Muswellbrook which focused on ‘Planning for the Future’. The 2024 program included an overview of the regional economic outlook and future of coal, an update from the NSW Government on the Future Jobs and Investment Authorities and Post Mining Land Use Enquiry and the EPA’s Climate Change Policy and Action Plan. Alongside these, the Dialogue provided updates on its environmental projects focused on water stewardship, air quality, and mine rehabilitation.
In a workshop session facilitated by the Institute for Regional Futures, stakeholders told us what they see are the priority issues in the Upper Hunter, shared concerns they have about mining and/or the future of the region, and discussed how we can work together to help to address them.
Watch this short video to hear from the Forum Facilitator, as well as some of the speakers and community members who participated in the 2024 Forum.
The Forum Report outlining the speakers, presentations, and key issues raised at the event has been prepared. The Institute for Regional Futures led the workshop feedback session at the end of the Forum and is preparing a report to be circulated in early 2025.