More than 6000 homes have been fast-tracked in Sydney. Here is where they are

More than 6000 homes in 11 major developments have been sent on a fast route to construction under the first recommendations of a NSW housing authority empowered to bypass local councils.

The Minns government’s three-person Housing Delivery Authority suggested a dozen proposed residential projects in Sydney should have access to a fast-tracked “state significant” approval process after they assessed an initial tranche of 28 applications at a meeting in early February.

Responding to the authority’s recommendations, Planning and Public Spaces Minister Paul Scully on Tuesday said he declared 11 of the projects fit for the fast-tracked approval process.

Scully said the proposed developments had the capacity to deliver 6400 new homes, as NSW lags on the bold 377,000-dwelling target agreed by Premier Chris Minns under the National Housing Accord.

Minns said the process was making it easier and faster to increase housing supply near existing infrastructure as the government aims to intensify residential development near transport hubs.

“This is an important step that is helping to deliver thousands of new homes for those who need them, but we know that work does not stop here to increase housing supply,” Minns said.

Among plans that will have access to the state-significant development route are an apartment complex of 2020 dwellings in Rhodes and another residential project of 1440 homes in Canada Bay.

Other projects are in Waterloo, Ryde, Westmead, Parramatta, Austral, Miranda and Leppington. The authority knocked back expressions of interest from developers for residential developments in areas including Ingleburn, Marsfield, Alexandria, Catherine Field and Toormina.

The planning troika was established in December and has the power to approve spot land rezonings and large residential projects simultaneously in a process to speed up approval and delivery times.

It comprises Premier’s Department secretary Simon Draper, Planning Department secretary Kiersten Fishburn and Infrastructure NSW chief executive Tom Gellibrand.

Planning Minister Paul Scully has faced down local councils, saying the NSW Housing Delivery Authority has swiftly worked to find new homes.Credit: Rhett Wyman

Councils previously expressed alarm at the process, which they said concentrated decision-making power with a few “distant bureaucrats”, quashing local input and knowledge from major projects.

Since January 8, developers have been able to submit expressions of interest to the authority for proposed housing projects with an estimated development cost above $60 million in Greater Sydney and above $30 million in regional NSW.

Of the first 28 proposals the authority assessed, eight were not recommended for the pathway, three were deferred for consideration, and five will be monitored as they were already state significant and deemed on the correct planning pathway.

The authority will publish an online transcript of its fortnightly deliberations on the developments.

One of the biggest developments is proposed for fast-growing Rhodes in Sydney’s inner west.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

In recommending the proposal for 2020 homes in Canada Bay, the authority noted the site was on an isolated piece of industrial land, located near transport and surrounded by residential development.

Conversely, it knocked back a proposal for Macquarie Road in Ingleburn because the site was complex and had significant environmental problems, was not well located, and the scale of development required the proponent to do further work.

The authority was expected to fast-track about 100 projects in its first year; however, the government said it had already received more than 160 expressions of interest in the past five weeks.

High demand from developers prompted the housing authority to schedule meetings for each fortnight rather than once a month as initially planned.

The government said the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure would provide clear advice and guidance to HDA applicants on the next steps to take with their development proposal.

It said the authority had prioritised high-quality housing projects with detailed plans submitted within nine months, could begin construction within 12 months of approval, and deliver affordable housing, to set a clear benchmark for future expressions of interest submissions.

Property Council NSW executive director Katie Stevenson said the authority had set a good pace, and the next challenge was to scale up the efforts to deliver more housing to meet demand.

Stevenson said the chosen projects would bring NSW more than 6000 dwellings closer to meeting its housing target and in well-located suburbs, including Canada Bay, Parramatta, and Ryde.

But she said delays in NSW were “chronic” and NSW was falling behind other states on housing delivery. Stevenson said the government needed to remove barriers that delayed approvals, increased costs and made housing less accessible.

Urban Taskforce chief executive Tom Forrest welcomed the speed and transparency of the authority.

“The huge support for this new process highlights just how cumbersome the planning framework had become. Investors, financiers, developers and builders had been sitting on this massive number of development opportunities, just waiting for a planning system that could give them a chance.”

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