Environment Minister Penny Sharpe will outline how the state government plans to balance the demand for more housing and also protect the Hunter's valuable biodiversity during an address in Newcastle on Thursday.
The tension between development and conservation has reached fever pitch on the city's western fringe in recent months following the approval of the 858-lot Winten Estate development.
Other projects that are progressing through the planning pipeline as part of the government's push to build more housing are the 505 Minmi Road and Eden Estates developments.
Conservationists have warned the projects will result in the loss of hundreds of hectares of invaluable habitat and the local extinction of several endangered species.
Ms Sharpe will address the Urban Development Institute of Australia lunch in Newcastle on Thursday.
The institute has called on the government to invest in strategic conservation plans in growth areas around Maitland, Cessnock, Port Stephens, Newcastle and Lake Macquarie.
It says the plans are needed to give certainty for investment and to protect the environment, while delivering much needed new housing for the Hunter.
"UDIA welcomes government efforts to reform the biodiversity conservation system. We have been working constructively with the NSW government on how to achieve better outcomes both for biodiversity as well as industry, so we can successfully deliver on the NSW government's commitments under the National Housing Accord," UDIA NSW chief executive Stuart Ayres said.
"New housing and the environment have to co-exist. Biodiversity conservation is important both for the liveability of our urban areas today as well as for future generations, but if we don't resolve these land use issues strategically, there are economic and social consequences that will see the Hunter's communities falling behind."
The UDIA argues the current system of regulating biodiversity conservation creates too much uncertainty for both the environment and development, and is a major constraint to meeting the new housing targets.
"UDIA calls on government to invest in the Hunter and focus on a more strategic approach to make it clear to the community and investors where biodiversity-approved development can occur, ultimately delivering a better conservation outcome while getting new houses delivered faster," UDIA Hunter chapter chairman Jeffrey Bretag said.
"We need a higher-level, more strategic approach about where to conserve and where to develop, and this needs to be decided early in the planning process if we have any chance of addressing the chronic lack of housing in the Lower Hunter."
Ms Sharpe said tackling the biodiversity crisis and the housing crisis required commitment from both government and industry.
"I welcome the constructive input of the UDIA as NSW works through the reform of our biodiversity laws.
"It is a complex challenge, but one the Minns Labor government believes we can work through to deliver the housing the community needs."
