Regional activation and business investment

Our region 

Armidale, the highest city in Australia, is centrally located on the New England Highway between Sydney and Brisbane. With our stunning natural beauty and leading education and agriculture sectors, we are an amazing place to live, work and visit. We are proud of our rich cultural and Indigenous heritage which together with our classic European architecture and commitment to creative and performing arts, frames the sophisticated character of our city and towns. 

Big aspirations and a clear plan for growth  

Armidale Regional Council (ARC) has set an aspirational target to grow jobs in our region by 4,000 by 2040 (increasing our regional population by 10,000) and to identify the region building infrastructure and catalyst job growth projects that will maximise the region’s potential.  

This clear direction from the elected Council culminated in the preparation of Council’s Armidale-Regional-Council-Local-Strategic-Planning-Statement-LSPS.pdf(PDF, 30MB) Advancing our region: Toward 50,000 (Toward 50,000), which provides a framework for future land use planning decisions and the management of growth in our region based on our economic, social and environmental needs.  

With a set of clear goals, and the positive drive towards welcoming industry investment and growing our existing local business base, Council has some exciting projects and opportunities emerging:  

  • A focus on growing jobs in key engine and emerging industries including: Education, Agriculture, Renewable Energy, Manufacturing and Controlled Environment Horticulture, and to support growth through targeted jobs precincts for these industries.  

  • A plan to deliver critical and population-building water infrastructure for our region. 

  • A central position in the largest planned renewable energy zone in Australia – The New England Renewable Energy Zone - intended to have a network capacity of eight gigawatts and will be a critical component of Australia’s low carbon future.  

  • A focus on creating highly liveable region that offers superior quality of life, clean and green spaces, walkable neighbourhoods, local experiences, social cohesion and a strong visitor economy.  

  • A strategic approach to a ‘Brilliant Region’ – combining the benefits of regional living with the competitive advantages to digital technologies to attract new industries, remote job opportunities and to leverage digital data and insights to drive strategic and collaborative local decisions.

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