‘It would just ruin it’: The Sydney suburb wriggling its way out of the state’s housing policy

When Jim Softsis spots the local mayor and the Herald loitering outside his Croydon home, he is quick to emerge and say hello. And check what we are doing, of course.

John Faker, the Labor mayor of Burwood, is trying to recall whether this Federation house was his uncle’s 40 years ago. It turns out it was next door. But on this wide, suburban street, many houses look the same. That’s the whole point.

We are in the Malvern Hill Estate heritage conservation area, one of Sydney’s “garden suburbs” developed from 1909 under a rubric of single-storey, brick and stone detached homes with slate or terracotta tile roofs.

“That’s the main reason why everyone chooses to live here: because it’s quiet and, as you can see, everyone likes to maintain the heritage conservation of their homes,” Softsis says.

Elena and Jim Softsis outside their Croydon home, which is within the Malvern Hill Estate heritage conservation area.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

That’s also why this suburb and its civic leaders have reacted forcefully to the state government’s inclusion of Croydon among 30 other suburbs in the transport-oriented development program.

The reforms, which are due to start this month, will amend planning controls to allow six-storey residential flat buildings within 400 metres of the train station in each of those suburbs. The list includes a string of four stations on the north shore line, some on the T4 line in the south, and several in the inner west and further out.

But Croydon wants out. Specifically, Burwood Council wants the heritage conservation areas of Croydon – of which there are several – shielded from the policy.

Softsis, 45, purchased the property in 2016 and lives there with his wife and daughter. He knows nobody can force him to sell, but the thought of someone else doing so is “pretty devastating”.

“Everyone’s house-proud around here, so we’re looking forward to maintaining that and not seeing it otherwise, in essence, destroyed by high-rise apartments,” he says. “It would just ruin it.”

But others think a few apartments is just what Croydon needs. At a council meeting last week to discuss the government’s plans, two members of Sydney YIMBY – Yes In My Backyard – spoke in favour of more housing and less heritage.

Sharath Mahendran, a representative of Sydney YIMBY, who also runs the hit YouTube channel Building Beautifully.Credit: Flavio Bracaleone

One of them, Sharath Mahendran, pointed out the median house price in Croydon is $2.3 million – up more than 20 per cent in just 12 months. The median age is 42 – a full 10 years older than in neighbouring Burwood, with its glut of apartments.

Croydon, he pointed out, is the 32nd busiest station on the T2 line out of 38, with fewer users than stations further out such as Guildford and Canley Vale.

“If they don’t adapt with the times they’re going to fulfil the prophecy of the NSW Productivity Commission, which is a city with no grandchildren,” Mahendran says.

However, the look and feel of Croydon is by design. As Faker takes the Herald on a tour, he says many Croydon residents used to live in cheaper housing, but “now they’ve bought in at a higher price because they wanted to live here”. It’s an aspiration people are willing to pay for.

Burwood mayor John Faker is confident Croydon will win a reprieve from the transport-oriented development program.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

Burwood is one of Sydney’s smaller municipalities, with just over 40,000 residents counted at the last census. But when it comes to delivering more homes, it is a relative over-achiever, completing about 400 new dwellings a year.

Burwood Council wants to essentially ringfence housing development at the town centre around Burwood Station, which has accommodated the bulk of its growth to date. It has also planned for 5500 more dwellings in Burwood North when the Metro station opens in 2032.

Now the state government has come along and said Croydon should take some growth, too. Faker believes that’s bad planning. “You don’t want your whole community to be filled with towers,” he says. “You need that balance. It can’t all be apartment living.”

The pride of Croydon is not just the heritage homes but the Strand shopping strip just south of the station. When the Herald visits, an A-frame is set up at the pedestrian crossing, asking residents to help Burwood Council fight the state government’s “rezoning” of Croydon. It is adorned by a photo of Faker. There are local government elections in September, after all.

Planning Minister Paul Scully has given Faker a good hearing. Faker says he and Scully have had three meetings, which went from “quite tense” to “pretty positive”. He told last week’s council meeting he was hopeful of winning an extension of time, potentially nine months.

“I’m pretty confident that we’re going to not just land in a great place, but we’re going to have the opportunity to save Croydon the way it is,” Faker said.

Last week, Scully confirmed the April start date for the transport-oriented development controls was not set in stone for all suburbs, and in some cases, “deferred commencement” would allow councils more time to find alternative ways of delivering more homes. That could be six months or longer.

He denied this was “backtracking” on the policy, pointing out he has always said the new controls would only apply until councils put their own plans in place that met the government’s objectives.

Even near the station, Croydon remains low-rise.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

“We are having good conversations with mayor Faker and Burwood Council about how we can deliver housing outcomes in Burwood,” Scully said. “I believe good density outcomes and heritage can co-exist like it does in dozens and dozens of other places throughout Sydney.”

Similar negotiations are happening across the city. But it’s a familiar, perhaps vicious, circle. The state government tells councils where it wants housing. Councils say: let us do our own planning. The government relents. Nothing much changes. Rinse and repeat.

The Department of Planning spent nearly six months choosing the 31 stations for its transport-oriented development program. The risk for the government is that delays and compromise only recreate the failures of the past.

Many of the stations selected by the government for the transport-oriented development policy contain heritage areas within their 400-metre radii. Messaging about how the policy interacts with heritage has been confusing.

Planning Department documents stipulate the policy applies in heritage conservation areas, and that these suburbs should prepare for “significant change”. This has led to suggestions, including from the Liberal opposition, that heritage buildings will be torn down for new apartments.

Last month, Scully sought to correct that assertion. “The controls that prevent the demolition of buildings that contribute to heritage within a heritage conservation area will not be overridden by the planning changes,” he said.

“But where a development application seeks to remove something that is not adding to the heritage value of an area, the decision to remove it and to replace it with a well-designed new building or home is something that remains within the council’s ability to assess and approve, modify, or reject. Any new build will need to improve and enhance the heritage value of an area.”

Mahendran, the Sydney YIMBY representative, says Croydon is an example of excessive heritage protection that has locked up too many suburbs from development. Next door, 43 per cent of the Inner West municipality is under some form of heritage protection, with more slated for listing.

The look and feel of Croydon is by design.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

The YIMBY position is that only a sample of heritage buildings should be protected, not all. Part of the problem, Mahendran says, is their prime location.

“They’re nice houses, but they’re all right next to Croydon station. It’s just not efficient use of land,” he says. “At what point is it enough protection of heritage? There needs to be a serious conversation about that.”

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