NSW Labor has agreed to investigate if a parcel of land at Fletcher, considered essential to the Hunter Green Corridor project, can be added to its proposed expanded national and regional parks network.
Labor this week announced that, if elected, it would create five new national and regional parks across the state. But, despite two decades of community advocacy, backed by the City of Newcastle, 505 Minmi Road was not on the list.
The 26 hectare parcel of land, owned by Kingston Property, has been earmarked for housing since the late 1990s.
Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery has been a long-term advocate for conserving the land.
A spokesman for Ms Hornery said a Labor government would look at using the mechanisms of the environment and planning department to conserve the land.
"It's not something we can commit to at the moment," he said.
Shadow environment minister Penny Sharpe confirmed the approach on Thursday.
"Labor will complete the National Parks Establishment Plan, which has not been updated since 2009, to identify key habitat, ecosystems and wildlife corridors throughout NSW to expand our protected areas into the future," she said.
"This process allows consideration of parcels of land like Minmi Road."
Ward 4 councillor Liz Adamczyk told the Herald that a solution, which she said should be acceptable for all parties, would be for the site to be acquired by National Parks and incorporated into the neighbouring Blue Gum Hills Regional Park.
"Protecting this critical part of the Green Corridor in the National Park Estate has long had the support of the elected council, and the broader community," she said.
"I look forward to working with Environment Minister Penny Sharpe in a Minns Labor Government to see this site secured in perpetuity. Without action I hold little hope that this land will be protected from over development, the site will be lost forever, and our important Green Corridor will be fragmented and broken."
Green Corridor Coalition spokesman Brian Purdue said he remained hopeful the land could be conserved for biodiversity.
"At 26 hectares in size, the 505 Minmi Road site is a small but essential piece of the Green Corridor that connects the Hunter Estuary National Park to the Blue Gum Hill Regional Park. For more than two decades, the Green Corridor Coalition has been battling to protect this site from housing planning proposals that would destroy this environmental connection and fragment the Green Corridor," he said.
"This site is quite affordable under its current 'Environmental Zoning' with funding we understand is available within existing government programs."
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