The NSW Government requires local councils to collaborate with their communities to shape the future. Through long, medium and short-term plans, Council aligns community priorities with strategic planning for finances, assets and resources.
Under the Local Government Act 1993, this process is guided by the Integrated Planning and Reporting (IPR) Framework, ensuring informed, sustainable decision-making that supports thriving communities and a brighter future for NSW.
Community Strategic Plan
Maitland's Future is the highest-level plan that we prepare. Its purpose is to identify the community’s main priorities and aspirations for the future and plan strategies for achieving these goals. Maitland's Future guides all other strategies and plans and must be developed with and on behalf of the community.
We've built our shared vision for Maitland upon four key focus areas: Liveable Maitland, Sustainable Maitland, Vibrant Maitland, and Achieving Together. These focus areas form the foundation of our shared vision, a connected city with thriving communities.
Our plan is built around four key priorities that shape the city's future:
Liveable Maitland
Working together to foster strong connections, great places to live, and efficent mobility, enhancing how we connect with people and place.
Sustainable Maitland
Working together to commit to environmental stewardship and community resilience. centred around strong connections to nature and ensuring our communities thrive.
Vibrant Maitland
Working together to create opportunities for growth, work, and involvement.
Achieving Together
Working together to foster a culture built on trust. Empowering an engaged workforce that embraces change.
Delivery Program and Operational Plan
Following an election, each new Council develops a Delivery Program to outline the objectives for the Council term. The Delivery Program seeks to achieve the community’s vision and priorities for the future set out in the Maitland’s Future, our Community Strategic Plan.
The Operational Plan, supported by the Long Term Financial Plan, incorporates the Infrastructure Program, and the Fees and Charges to support the Delivery Program. The annual Operational Plan details actions that Council will take over the next financial year to help progress the Delivery Program and its objectives. It includes a budget statement, Infrastructure Program, information on rates and a list of fees and charges.
We publish our Six Monthly Progress Report twice yearly, detailing the progress on delivering the objectives set in the Delivery Program.
At the end of each financial year, Council prepares an Annual Report, detailing our progress in achieving the Operational Plan.
Resourcing Strategy
Resourcing Maitland’s Future is our roadmap for implementing and resourcing our vision to support service delivery. The Resourcing strategy is a crucial document linking our vision and delivery of Maitland’s Future, detailing the resources needed to implement the priorities and objectives outlined in our Delivery Program and Operational Plan. The resourcing strategy outlines how we will achieve the priorities in Maitland’s Future in terms of our people, our assets and our finances.
The strategy is built on three (3) key components: Long-Term Financial Plan, Workforce Management Strategy and Asset Management Planning.
Communication and Engagement Strategy
Having community input into projects and having an informed community improves outcomes for community connectedness and wellbeing and makes Maitland a better place to live, work and play.
Our Communication and Engagement Strategy 2024-2028 provides the framework in which we continually embed community feedback to inform and improve how we do things, and communicate effectively.
State of Our City Report
The State of our City report shows how we're progressing towards our shared vision under our Community Strategic Plan.
It highlights key achievements across each theme from the previous Council term, providing trend data to help shape Maitland's future direction with the newly elected Council.
Annual Report
The Annual Report is a detailed report that showcases a snap shot of our achievements over the past year.
It is an integral part of our commitment to transparent and accountable governance. The Report details how we have delivered on the four key themes of our Delivery Program and Operational Plan.
The Annual Report also contains information of Council's performance in terms of its principle functions such as budgetary, environmental, public works, governance, human resources and other related outcomes.
In addition, our 2023/24 Financial Statements are also available.
Six Monthly Progress Report
The Six Monthly Progress Report highlights Council’s performance and key achievements across four focus areas, reflecting our commitment to building a connected city with thriving communities, as outlined in Maitland’s Future, our Community Strategic Plan.
In addition to meeting our legislative obligations, this report aims to keep the community informed about our priorities, reinforce our dedication to transparency in decision making, and to celebrate the progress and successes of our organisation.
Supporting strategies, plans and reports
Maitland's Integrated Planning and Reporting (IPR) framework ensures a cohesive approach to long- term planning by aligning financial strategies, development goals, and community needs.
Financial reports demonstrate how resources are managed to meet these plans, while long-term planning focuses on shaping infrastructure and growth to reflect the community's aspirations.
Together, these elements ensure decisions made today support Maitland's sustainable future.