In a report prepared by council environmental services director Murray James, the recommendation acknowledges the shire’s role in the international equine industry and the council’s responsibility to help it expand. The draft recommendation proposes exclusion zones to protect the thoroughbred industry and overall stronger regulations.

The exclusion zones should be included in the local government area’s planning laws, the recommendation says, and it calls for more ‘‘robust’’ monitoring of the industry.

Coal seam gas exploration and extraction is a focus of the report.

The council paper suggests a review of laws to ensure the community is involved in the granting of consents and to consider the rights of property owners, relating to access, compensation and rehabilitation.

The report and recommendation comes after Upper Hunter councillors’ trips to inspect coal seam gas operations in Queensland and the Liverpool Plains.

A public forum on the issue, held this month, identified a number problems posed by the exploration and extraction of coal seam gas.

One was that expansion of coal seam gas into the local government area would intensify the impact of mining, which was already causing pressure on the supply of housing and workers in the area.