‘Rich nimby Boomers’ forcing Western Sydney to carry the burden of affordable housing

Councils in Sydney’s north and east are failing to meet basic housing targets, forcing Western Sydney to create thousands of new homes.

Western Sydney mayors have slammed nimby councils in Sydney’s east and north for failing to pull their weight in tackling a growing housing crisis because it will ruin the charm of their areas, forcing the west to pick up the slack and driving up prices.

Mayors from Canterbury-Bankstown and Fairfield are calling on the state government to release any available crown land in the city’s east and north to create build-to-rent, affordable and social homes.

The renewed push for affordable housing comes after harrowing stories of working families being unable to find homes.

Mosman on the lower north shore has a minimum target of just 250 new homes by 2026 but Department of Planning forecasting predicts just 110 will be built according to analysis from peak body Urban Taskforce.

In Hunters Hill that target sits at just 150 new homes with a shortage of 85 is expected in the next four years.

Minister for Cities Rob Stokes. Picture: Monique Harmer

Ryde has a minimum target of 8400 and is expected to fall short by 2645.

The Greater Cities Commission – which set the measly target for Sydney’s north and east – has a different order for Western Sydney where councils are being call on to produce a minimum of 10,000 homes in flood devastated Camden, 22,500 homes in Parramatta and 12,500 homes in Canterbury-Bankstown.

Urban Taskforce chief executive Tom Forrest said Western Sydney was being forced to bear the brunt of the state’s crippling housing shortage.

“For too long, Western Sydney Councils have been doing the heavy lifting on housing supply for Sydney’s growing population, while LGAs in Sydney’s East and North Shore complain about every the most miserly requirements to accommodate growth,” he said.

Mr Forrest said the targets had an “inherent bias” against Western Sydney and the Planning Department’s own forecasts were “predicting failure”.

“The targets reflect a bias showing all the population growth going to Western Sydney. The idea that the people of Pittwater should not have a significant increase in housing density but Blacktown and the Hills have to accommodate massive growth is unfair,” he said.

NSW Urban Taskforce CEO Tom Forrest says the north and east need to pick up some slack. Picture: David Swift

“You have rich nimby Boomers sitting on their assets saying they want to keep their area as it is. They want the most minimum development or even no development.”

Cities Minister Rob Stokes said although some areas were absorbing population growth more than others, it was important to factor in density.

“Many of the areas with lower housing targets are already very densely populated,” he said.

“There are a lot of things to take into consideration, such as infrastructure capacity, environmental constraints, whether the land is flood or bushfire prone or if there are heritage values to be preserved.”

Mayors from Canterbury-Bankstown and Fairfield are calling on the state government to release any available crown land in the city’s east and north to create build-to-rent, affordable and social homes.

Western Sydney mayors question why their towns are required to accomodate social housing supply while areas like the north shore are not held to the same standard. Picture: Brendan Radke

“It’s unfair, we have to bear the burden of supplying Sydney’s housing stock while there are other areas like the north shore that have the infrastructure, the services are shutting their gates and not wanting to increase their housing supply,” Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour said.

Fairfield Mayor Frank Carbone said homes in his region were seeing affordable granny flats squashed into their backyards while other areas opposed development.

“We had 3000 granny flats built in Fairfield because the government has mandated that granny flats should be allowed. Yet, I haven’t seen too much affordable housing being built in Mosman? Why is no one talking about more affordable housing in Mosman or more high-rises?” he said.