The NSW government has named Newcastle economic development and urban planning consultant Matt Endacott as its Lower Hunter representative on the Greater Cities Commission.
The 31-year-old has earned a four-year contract as city commissioner for "Lower Hunter and Greater Newcastle City" as part of the government's "Six Cities Region" strategy for Greater Sydney.
The commission said on Friday that Mr Endacott and the five other commissioners would "lead the planning" for what it terms Australia's first "global city region".
"City commissioners are the connective tissue between state and local government," the Greater Cities Commission said in a media statement.
"They facilitate the conversations and empower stakeholders to set common goals for their city."
Mr Endacott graduated from the University of Sydney in 2012 with a Bachelor of Economics and also holds an arts degree from the university. He completed a masters of urban renewal and housing at the University of NSW in 2017.
He started his career with UrbanGrowth NSW in 2015 then worked briefly as a communications manager for Hunter Development Corporation before joining consultancy firm AECOM in 2018.
He opened his own urban planning consultancy, Wren St, in Newcastle in 2020.
Mr Endacott has been a member of the Labor party and has written a host of letters and opinion pieces in the Newcastle Herald.
"I'm a member of lots of organisations, and all of those will be declared, but I'm not an active member of any political party, and I've not held any executive positions or sought preselections," he said.
"I might have attended a [Labor] state conference, not as a delegate but as an observer.
"I've been politically active in the past on a number of issues, but I think the opinion columns that I've written for the Herald will demonstrate that my interests in the region have always been bigger than any one agenda.
"I'm been very supportive of Revitalising Newcastle from the early days in 2015, and I think the benefit of that investment is now very much coming to fruition."
He said his role would be to advocate for the Lower Hunter at the Greater Cities Commission, which was expanded from the Greater Sydney Commission in April to include Newcastle and Illawarra.
"The goals of the GCC as I understand them are primarily about collaboration; it's about getting the stakeholders, particularly the local councils, across the mega-region working together on a shared vision.
"I feel the purpose of this role is to look at everything we've already said is important to us, look at what's happening across the rest of the mega-region and saying where are we competitive, where can we grow and how can we leverage what's happening elsewhere so that we can be part of a truly globally competitive mega-region."
Chief commissioner Geoff Roberts said he was "thrilled" that Mr Endacott, new Central Coast commissioner Robyn Parker and Illawarra commissioner Jacki Johnson would "bring their extensive expertise" to reshaping the "global city region".
"I'd also like to acknowledge the important role that local councils played in the selection process," he said.
Mr Endacott said he would encourage Greater Newcastle to start seeing itself as the "northern end of a much more significant metropolitan area".
"The purpose of the GCC is not to remove that distinct identity; it's to enhance it by collaborating with our southern neighbours."
Asked about his elevation to the commission at a relatively young age, Mr Endacott said: "The average age of a new resident moving to Greater Newcastle from a capital city is 30, so I'm in fact older than the average age.
"That tells me there are a lot of people feeling a similar optimism for the place that I do, that we are increasingly a future-focused city region.
"That being a demographic that are coming here for career opportunities. I think it's inevitable that we will want to start being more competitive and aspirational in terms of where we want to see the region."
He said the Lower Hunter was "very fortunate" to be included in the GCC.
"There are a lot of other regional areas in NSW that I think would love to have that level of visibility and that access to important conversations."
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