The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and south. Situated at the northern end of the Sydney Basin bioregion, the Hunter Valley is one of the largest river valleys on the NSW coast, and is most commonly known for its wineries and coal industry. Most of the population of the Hunter Region lives within of the coast, with 55% of the entire population living in the cities of

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

and

Lake Macquarie The City of Lake Macquarie is a local government area in Greater Newcastle and part of the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city from 7 September 1984. The area is situated adjacent to the city of Newcastle and is ...

. There are numerous other towns and villages scattered across the region in the eleven

local government areas A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory. The phrase i ...

(LGAs) that make up the region. At the the combined population of the region was 682,465, and is expected to reach over 1,000,000 people by 2031. Under Australia's wine

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

system, the Hunter Valley wine zone

Australian Geographical Indication A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town, region, or country). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product's source, ...

(GI) covers the entire catchment of the Hunter River and its tributaries. Within that, the Hunter region is almost as large, and includes most of the wine-producing areas, excluding the metropolitan area of Newcastle and nearby coastal areas, some national parks, and any land that was in the Mudgee Shire (at the western heights of the catchment). The Hunter wine region is one of Australia's best known

wine regions This list of wine-producing regions catalogues significant growing regions where vineyards are planted. Wine grapes mostly grow between the 30th and the 50th degree of latitude, in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Grapes will sometimes ...

, playing a pivotal role in the history of Australian wine as one of the first wine regions planted in the early 19th century. The success of the Hunter Valley wine industry has been dominated by its proximity to Sydney with its settlement and plantings in the 19th century fuelled by the trade network that linked the valley to the city. The steady demand of consumers from Sydney continues to drive much of the Hunter Valley wine industry, including a factor in the economy by the tourism industry.Johnson, Hugh, and Jancis Robinson. The World Atlas of Wine. London: Mitchell Beazley, 2005. Print. While the Hunter Valley has been supplanted by the massive Riverina wine region as the largest producer of New South Wales wine, it still accounts for around 3% of Australia's total wine production and is one of the country's most recognisable regions.Clarke, Oz, and Margaret Rand. ''Oz Clarke's Encyclopedia of Grapes''. New York: Harcourt, 2001. Print.

History

For over 30,000 years the

Wonnarua The Wonnarua people, otherwise written Wanarruwa, are a group of Aboriginal Australian people united by strong ties of kinship, and who survived in family groups or clans scattered along the inland area of what is now known as the Upper Hunter ...

people of

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Isl ...

s inhabited the land that is now known as the Hunter Valley wine region. Along with the

Worimi The Worimi (also spelt Warrimay) people are Aboriginal Australians from the eastern Port Stephens and Great Lakes regions of coastal New South Wales, Australia. Before contact with settlers, their people extended from Port Stephens in the sout ...

to the north and the

Awabakal The Awabakal people , are those Aboriginal Australians who identify with or are descended from the Awabakal tribe and its clans, Indigenous to the coastal area of what is now known as the Hunter Region of New South Wales. Their traditional te ...

to the south, the Wonnarua developed a trading route connecting the Coquun (Hunter) Valley to the harbour now known as Sydney harbour."Hunter Valley Wine Country."
Hunter Valley Wine Country Tourism
' 8 May 2010 Captain John Shortland

The wine-making history of Hunter Valley begins with the European settlement of the Sydney and the New South Wales region of Australia in the late 18th century as a penal colony of the British Empire. The Hunter River itself was discovered, by accident, in 1797 by British Lieutenant

John Shortland John Shortland (5 September 1769 – 21 January 1810) was an officer of the Royal Navy, the eldest son of John Shortland. Land prospector John Howe cut a path through the Australian wilderness from Sydney up to the overland area in what is now known as the (Lower) Hunter Valley proper in 1820. Today, the modern

Putty Road Putty is a material with high plasticity, similar in texture to clay or dough, typically used in domestic construction and repair as a sealant or filler. Although some types of putty (typically those using linseed oil) slowly polymerise and bec ...

between the cities of

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

and

Singleton Singleton may refer to: Sciences, technology Mathematics * Singleton (mathematics), a set with exactly one element * Singleton field, used in conformal field theory Computing * Singleton pattern, a design pattern that allows only one instance ...

follows Howe's exact path and is a major thoroughfare for wine tourists coming into the Hunter Valley from Sydney. As previous plantings in the coastal areas around Sydney succumbed to the humidity and wetness, and plantings to the west were limited by spring frost damage, northern reaches leading to the Hunter became, almost by default, the wine region of the new colony.Halliday, James. "
Regional Spotlight – Hunter Valley.
''" Wine Pros. 29 October 2001. Web. 25 May 2010. The expansive growth of the Hunter Valley in the mid to late 19th century came directly from its monopoly position of the lucrative Sydney market. The provincial government of New South Wales had enacted regulations that placed prohibitive duties on wines from other areas such as Victoria and South Australia. Following

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, many returning Australian veterans were given land grants in the Hunter Valley. This temporarily produced an up-tick in plantings but the global Great Depression as well as a series of devastating hail storms between 1929 and 1930 caused many growers to abandon their vineyards."
Hunter Valley – Australian Wine Regions
"'' Wine Diva Australia." Wine Diva. 1 June 2010

Geography

Geology

The Hunter Region is considered a transitional area between the

Paleozoic The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...

rock foundation of the New England Fold Belt located to the south and the Early Permian and

Middle Triassic In the geologic timescale, the Middle Triassic is the second of three epochs of the Triassic period or the middle of three series in which the Triassic system is divided in chronostratigraphy. The Middle Triassic spans the time between Ma and ...

period rock formations of the Sydney Basin to the south. Between these two geological areas is the Hunter- Mooki Thrust fault.'
Hunter Valley Research Foundation
"'' Web. 1 June 2010. At one time this fault was very geologically active and gave rise to the Brokenback range that feature prominently in the Hunter region. Strips of

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...

found throughout the region also bear witness to the volcanic activity that has occurred in the history of this fault. The Permian rocks in the central and southeastern expanse of the Lower Hunter Valley were formed when the area was underneath a shallow marine

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

. The remnants of this period has left an extensive network of coal seams that fuelled the early population boom of the Hunter Valley in the 19th century as well a high degree of salinity in the water table of much of the area. The further north and west, towards the Brokenback Range and the Upper Hunter, the more

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Year#Abbreviations yr and ya, Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 ...

sandstone that can be found leading eventually to the carboniferous rocks that form the northern boundary of the Hunter with the New England Fold Belt and the foothills of the

Barrington Tops Barrington Tops is part of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales, Australia, between Gloucester and Scone. In 1934, the area was difficult to access and was described as being "not traceable to any man-made feature". Part of the area has ...

. Overall, the Hunter Valley has more soils (mostly hard, acidic patches of poorly draining heavy clay) that are unsuitable for viticulture than they have areas that are ideal for growing grapes. The soils of the Lower Hunter vary widely from sandy

alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. All ...

flats (often planted to Semillon), to deep friable loam (often planted with Shiraz) and friable red duplex soils. In the Upper Hunter, the rivers and creeks of the region contribute to the areas black, silty loam soils that are often overlaid on top of alkaline clay loam. Among the hills of the Brokenback range are strips of volcanic basalt that are prized by growers for their tendencies to restrict vigor and concentrate mineral flavours in the grapes. The Warkworth Sands Woodland of the Hunter Valley are situated on these soils.

Rivers

The main river in the region is the Hunter River, after which the region is named. Other rivers in the region include the

Allyn Allyn is both a unisex given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: ;Given name: * Leigh-Allyn Baker (born 1972), American actress, director and voice artist * Allyn L. Brown (1883–1973), American judge * Allyn Capron (18 ...

, Avon, Barrington, Bow, Bowman,

Chichester Chichester () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publi ...

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...

Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...

, Karuah, Krui, Mammy Johnsons, Merriwa, Munmurra,

Pages Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young mal ...

, Paterson, Wangat and Williams rivers. Despite being the area's namesake, the Hunter River itself is not the dominant feature of the region—falling behind the Brokenback Range for that distinction. The greater river system of the Hunter, which includes the Goulburn and important tributaries such as Giants Creek, do provide needed

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

for areas such as the Upper Hunter than can be prone to drought condition. The origins of the river begin the

Liverpool Range The Liverpool Range is a mountain range and a lava-field province in New South Wales, Australia. The eastern peaks of the range were the traditional territory of the Wonnarua people. Geography The Liverpool Range starts from the volcanic plate ...

of the volcanic

and flows south and then east down to the Pacific Ocean at the seaport city of

Water supply

Fresh water supply for the region is provided from a number of sources, which are managed by the Hunter Water and State Water Corporations. State Water Corporation's dams supply water for irrigation, industrial use at coal mines and the region's coal-fired power stations and town water to upper Hunter Region towns. Hunter Water Corporation's dams supply the large urban population of more than 500,000 living near the coast and centered on the cities of Newcastle and Lake Macquarie. State Water Corporation's Glenbawn, the largest dam in the region,

and Lostock are dams on the Hunter, Chichester and Paterson rivers respectively. Hunter Water Corporation's

Grahamstown Dam Grahamstown Dam is a major Off-stream reservoir, off-stream Earthfill dam, earthfill Embankment dam with a controlled Spillway#Types, labyrinth spillway and baffle chute that stores water from the Williams River (New South Wales), Williams River. ...

, the largest dam supplying the urban areas of the lower Hunter Region, is supplied with water diverted from the Williams River just north of the Seaham Weir, through a large pump station at Balickera. The dam itself has only a small natural catchment and relies mainly on the pumped water from the Williams River. A proposal to build Tillegra Dam on the Williams River existed since the 1950s, but was scrapped in 2010. In addition to the dams, fresh water for the lower Hunter Region is supplied from the Tomago Sandbeds, via a series of bores.

Towns and cities

The Hunter Region includes four cities. In order of population these are

Maitland Maitland is an English and Scottish surname. It arrived in Britain after the Norman conquest of 1066. There are two theories about its source. It is either a nickname reference to "bad temper/disposition" (Old French, ''Maltalent''; Anglo Norm ...

and Cessnock. Newcastle, situated at the mouth of the Hunter River, is the second largest city in the region, although its immediate metropolitan area includes Lake Macquarie, and its statistical division also includes parts of the

, Cessnock and Port Stephens areas. Other major centres of the Hunter Region are

Dungog Dungog is a country town on the Williams River in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. Located in the middle of dairy and timber country, it is the centre of the Dungog Shire local government area and at the 2016 census it had a po ...

Kurri Kurri Kurri Kurri is a small town in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Cessnock LGA. At the , its population was 6,044. Kurri Kurri is the largest town in a group of towns and hamlets, including Stanford Merthyr, Pelaw Main, ...

Muswellbrook Muswellbrook ( ) is a town in the Upper Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle. Geologically, Muswellbrook is situated in the northern parts of the Sydney basin, bordering the New Engla ...

Raymond Terrace Raymond Terrace is a town in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about by road north of Newcastle on the Pacific Highway. Established in 1837 it is situated at the confluence of the Hunter and Williams rivers. The town was nam ...

Scone A scone is a baked good, usually made of either wheat or oatmeal with baking powder as a leavening agent, and baked on sheet pans. A scone is often slightly sweetened and occasionally glazed with egg wash. The scone is a basic component ...

and

Climate

Drought conditions in the Upper Hunter near Singleton

The climate of Hunter Valley is

humid subtropical A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

, similar to the Greater Western Sydney region, with distinctive

maritime Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prin ...

influences from the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

.MacNeil, Karen. The Wine Bible. New York: Workman Pub., 2001. Print. With its northerly latitude and close oceanic influences, the Hunter Valley is one of Australia's hottest and wettest wine regions. Flanked by mountains to the west and north the Hunter Valley acts as a funnel, pulling cool ocean breezes into the area. With those cooling breezes also comes heavy rainfall and periodic cyclonic storms in the summer and autumn months. In the summer, the average daily temperature regularly exceeds while during the winter the temperature averages around . Temperatures during January average between , with the temperature becoming progressively hotter the further inland you move away from the cooling influence of the sea. During the spring the Hunter Valley receives an average of 7.3–7.5 hours of sunshine a day. Mid-latitude westerly winds bring high pressure weather front that alternate with cold fronts on the winter. This leads to generally drier conditions in the winter months of July and August. In the summer, southeasterly winds bring weather fronts harbouring extensive amounts of moisture. Between October and April more than two thirds of the region's annual rainfall will fall with January and February being the wettest months. Between the months of October–April, the 3pm average for relative humidity in the Lower Hunter is 49%, while it is 43% in the Upper Hunter.

Industries

The main industries in the Hunter Region are coal mining, manufacturing, agriculture,

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ...

and wine making, tourism, horse breeding, electricity production, dairy farming and beef cattle farming, and associated service industries. The Hunter Region is one of Australia's most famous wine-growing regions, known for both its red and white wine varieties.

Coal mining

The most important economic activity in the valley is coal mining (through businesses such as

Rio Tinto Rio Tinto, meaning "red river", may refer to: Businesses * Rio Tinto (corporation), an Anglo-Australian multinational mining and resources corporation ** Rio Tinto Alcan, based in Canada ** Rio Tinto Borax in America *** Rio Tinto Borax Mine, ...

and

BHP BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...

), mostly for export. The

Port of Newcastle The Port of Newcastle is a major seaport in the city of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It is the world's largest coal port. It is made up of facilities located at Port Hunter - Yohaaba in the Hunter River estuary. The port was the f ...

is the world's largest export facility for coal, most of which is brought to the port by

rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' ( ...

. Coal ships are often seen off the coast of Newcastle.

Electricity generation

Electricity generation Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery ( transmission, distribution, etc.) to end users or its s ...

at the Eraring, Bayswater, Liddell, Munmorah,

Redbank Redbank may refer to: Places ;In Australia *Redbank, Queensland, a suburb in Ipswich *Redbank, Victoria *Redbanks, South Australia ;In the United States *Redbank Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania *Redbank Township, Clarion County, Pennsylv ...

and Vales Point coal-fired power stations is a major industry of the region.

Horse breeding

The Hunter Valley is Australia's main region for the breeding and rearing of

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

horses and most of the country's best racehorses.Barrie, Douglas M., The Australian Bloodhorse, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1956Thomas, Ray, Expanding coal mining in Hunter Valley threatens breeding industry and autumn racing revamp,

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

, 15 August 2013 The Upper Hunter area around

is one of the largest horse breeding areas in the world.

Tourism

Commonly known as 'Wine Country', The Hunter Valley is a major tourist destination in New South Wales and is the 6th most visited place in Australia attracting more than 2.5 million people annually. There are regular events held in the Hunter for visitors, including the Hunter Valley Steam Trains running the first three Sundays of each month and regular scenic cruises on the Hunter River and

Wine production

Cows and Hunter Valley Vineyard (9679974515)

The Hunter Valley Wine Zone

was registered on 1 May 1996 and is approximately the entire Hunter River catchment. It contains only one named wine region, Hunter. The Hunter Wine Region Australian Geographical Indication was declared on 18 March 1997. It is not as large as the Hunter Valley zone, but includes most of the significant vineyards. It does not extend east of the Pacific Highway. Some of the oldest vines in the Hunter Valley were planted in 1924 around the village of Fordwich. Pokolbin, located in the "Lower Hunter Valley", is the centre of the

Hunter Valley wine The Hunter Valley is one of Australia's wine regions. Located in the state of New South Wales and first cultivated in the early 19th century, it was one of the first Australian wine regions.Johnson, Hugh, and Jancis Robinson. The World Atlas of ...

country, which claims to be Australia's oldest wine region. It is located between the towns of Cessnock and Branxton, about west of Newcastle. The wine country is primarily located within the Cessnock and

LGAs. Its proximity to Sydney has been an influence on the area's investments in wine production and its emergence as a tourist destination. The Broke Fordwich area is located along the Hunter River tributary of the Wollombi Brook near the suburb of Pokolbin and was founded in 1830 by Major Thomas Mitchell who named the region after his fellow

Napoleonic War The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

veteran Sir Charles Broke-Vere. Much of the rolling countryside around Pokolbin is under vine and has a large number of

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineya ...

s, restaurants, shops, golf courses and country guesthouses. Other parts of the valley including the Wollombi Valley and Broke Fordwich subregion are also well known for wine, along with the Upper Hunter Valley. The main town in the Upper Hunter Valley subregion is

Administration

Political representation

For the purposes of Australian federal elections for the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, the Hunter Region is contained within the divisions of Hunter, Lyne,

, Paterson, and Shortland. For the purposes of New South Wales elections for the Legislative Assembly, the Hunter Region is contained within the electoral districts of Cessnock, Charlestown,

Myall Lakes Myalls are any of a group of closely related and very similar species of '' Acacia'': * ''Acacia binervia ''Acacia binervia'', commonly known as the coast myall, is a wattle native to New South Wales and Victoria. It can grow as a shrub or as a ...

, Port Stephens, Swansea, Upper Hunter,

Wallsend Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This f ...

, and

Wyong Wyong () is a town in the Central Coast of New South Wales, located approximately 63 km SSW of Newcastle and 89 km NNE of Sydney. Established in 1888, it is one of the two administrative centres for the local government area. Hist ...

Demography and area

The following

are contained within the region:

Environmental protection

The Hunter Region contains the

Goulburn River National Park The Goulburn River National Park is a national park located in New South Wales, Australia, northwest of Sydney and it is south-west of Merriwa. The Goulburn River National Park is located in the Hunter Valley region and covers approximately ...

, Myall Lakes National Park, Barrington Tops National Park, Werakata National Park, Watagans National Park, Mount Royal National Park, Polkolbin State Forest, Putty State Forest, Chichester State Forest, Running Creek Nature Reserve, The Glen Nature Reserve,

Black Bulga State Conservation Area The Black Bulga State Conservation Area is a protected conservation area located near the Barrington Tops, in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. The conservation area is situated from Dungog, and used to be part of Trevor St ...

, Myall River State Forest, and Karuah Nature Reserve. Within the Hunter, many endangered ecological communities (EECs) have been declared under the TSC Act. These communities are found on both public and private land, and prior to development of land, the landowner is required to undertake an environmental assessment to ascertain whether it will impact endangered species or endangered communities. Examples of endangered ecological communities found within the Hunter Region are: # Grey Box-Grey Gum Wet Sclerophyll Forest # Hunter Floodplain Red Gum Woodland # Hunter Lowland Redgum Forest # Hunter Valley Vine Thicket # Hunter Valley Weeping Myall Woodland # Lower Hunter Valley Dry Rainforest # Warkworth Sands Woodland. This EEC occurs on aeolian sands, south east of

(but may occur elsewhere in the Bioregion.)NSW Scientific Committee. (2011)

Statehood movement

There is an active movement campaigning for the Hunter Region to secede from New South Wales to form its own state. The sale of the Port of Newcastle and the refusal of the NSW state government to build a container terminal in Newcastle has been cited as the motivation behind the campaign. The movement's demands include a Royal commission into the feasibility of Hunter Valley Statehood as soon as possible, and a referendum on Hunter Valley statehood by 2030. Chapter VI of the Constitution of Australia allows new states to be formed, but only with the consent of the Parliament of the state in question.

Notes

References

External links

Hunter Valley Wine Tours

Hunter Region Botanical Gardens
{{Regions of New South Wales , state = autocollapse Wine regions of New South Wales Valleys of Australia Endangered ecological communities