Sydney councils fighting for power on housing plans

3 weeks ago 8

Sydney councils are fighting for control of their own housing densities, developing alternative approaches as they unanimously reject state government-imposed zoning changes.

The state government’s transport-oriented development (TOD) precincts have forced councils to the table on housing by delivering an ultimatum – either accept a blanket rezoning from the state government, or come up with your own plan to deliver just as many homes.

Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne wants council to fast track DA assessments.

Every NSW council with a TOD precinct has developed bespoke plans except for Newcastle, which chose to accept the government’s plan.

In a Sydney first, Inner West Council has adopted its own version of the government’s Housing Delivery Authority (HDA). While the HDA can declare projects as state significant, the council’s version aims to make its executives personally responsible for speeding up development applications.

Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne has faced backlash from some resident groups because of his council’s “Fairer Future Plan” to deliver more than 30,000 new homes – an alternative to the state government’s TOD blanket rezoning currently in force – which will concentrate new housing in the already well-developed suburbs of Ashfield and Marrickville.

Now, the council has established a “Major Residential Development Panel” comprised of its general manager, general counsel and director of planning, who will oversee DAs with five or more new dwellings with a mandate to slash processing times.

“When a DA is submitted it is then referred off for assessments sometimes to more than a dozen council officers. That can leave applicants feeling like they’re going through a pinball machine being bumped from person to person,” Byrne said.

Council officers will have to report monthly to the general manager about what might be slowing them down, and the panel is expected to report back to council to identify ways to get new homes approved faster.

“This could be very time-consuming for our executive staff, but given fixing the housing supply crisis is our number one priority, we’ve insisted they take responsibility for it,” he said.

Across the bridge, Mosman councillors will hold a briefing session next month to discuss developing a similar alternative housing strategy including intensifying housing growth around the Spit Junction town centre and Military Road corridor in an attempt to “save” the area from “gross overdevelopment”.

Mosman councillor Simon Menzies said the alternative strategy would enable the council to meet the state government’s housing targets of 500 new homes for Mosman by 2029, while at the same time protecting residential areas from being rezoned.

“We have to stand up and do something to save Mosman from gross overdevelopment because if we don’t have a plan we’re going to lose,” he said.

Mosman Mayor Ann Marie Kimber has written to Premier Chris Minns seeking an urgent meeting to discuss the government’s appetite to accept an alternative strategy.

Kimber said she was also disappointed by public comments made by Minns this week which she said unfairly targeted Mosman as a “NIMBY” council.

“Many residents I’ve spoken with are, in fact, supportive of increased density but the community just wants it in the right location and not through a ‘one size fits all’ approach,” she said.

Further north, a final decision on Ku-ring-gai Council’s alternative housing strategy, which would concentrate density into four town centres along the Pacific Highway, leaving low-rise residential neighbourhoods untouched, is just weeks away from being handed down with the NSW Department of Planning confirming it has recommended NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully endorse the strategy by November.

In a letter to Ku-ring-gai Council this month, the department urged the council to drop its current Land and Environment Court challenge against the government’s TOD housing reforms which the department stated would avoid “further legal expenses”.

Ku-ring-gai Council in a statement said it had no plans to withdraw the court action which is challenging the validity of the reforms. The case is scheduled to return to court in late November.

Scully said the government would “work with councils who put forward sensible and deliverable housing plans”.

“But the important work of councils is continuing to improve their assessment timeframes, some are trialling artificial intelligence and in a few special cases, I have mandated expert planners,” he said.

“We’re the second least affordable city in the world and 859th densest. We need more homes and we need them faster.”

Minns told a Centre for Independent Studies event on Tuesday that Sydney simply needed to change its mindset when it comes to density.

“If you look at some of the most exciting, vibrant communities around the world, whether it’s Williamsburg or places closer to London, they’re far denser than Sydney. People shouldn’t believe that Sydney’s a dense city.”

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