Western Sydney Airport council bungle leaves family homeless, $300k in the red

A family was forced to live in a caravan and banned from building new homes due to a bureaucratic bungle involving the new Western Sydney Airport.

A family has been forced to live in a caravan and a shed – and throw away $300,000 – because of a bureaucratic bungle surrounding the new airport.

Lisa and Tim Osborn sold their family home after being told by Wollondilly Council they would be allowed to build two dwellings on their newly purchased 11.3ha property at Silverdale, south of Warragamba.

The second home would be for their son Ryan Osborn, fiancee Rhiannon Sayers and granddaughter Scout.

They had spent $300,000 on council reports, architectural drawings, fencing and clean up of the property, which was purchased via the NSW Public Trustee & Guardian.

But five months after accepting (but not approving) their DA, requesting thousands of dollars worth of council reports and using seven different planning staff, the council belatedly called Mrs Osborn in March last year telling her she couldn’t build two homes on the block.

Lisa Osborn (right) with her daughter-in-law Rhiannon Sayers and granddaughter Scout on their Silverdale property. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

The family thought it was a joke.

“I am homeless because of the local council,” Mrs Osborn said.

“Wollondilly Council has confirmed we can build a 10-bedroom, five-bathroom dwelling that could house 20 people, although we cannot build two small dwellings for the four of us.”

The reason was the state government’s new Western Sydney Airport planning policy, commenced in October 2020, which prohibits secondary dwellings near the aerotropolis.

The Osborns are located in a zone deemed acceptable for aircraft noise when the airport opens in 2026 and when it reaches capacity with one runway in 2050.

However, the building ban relates to the noise level potentially reaching greater than 20 ANEF (Australian Noise Exposure Forecast) in 2063 when a possible second runway is built.

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The Osborn property could reach 20-25 ANEF.

As a comparison, parts of Marrickville that are about 2km from the Sydney Airport reach between 15-35 ANEF.

While owners in the Aerotropolis have been given advice and assistance from various state government bodies and their local councils, Mrs Osborn said they were told nothing “as our land is not located in the Aerotropolis”.

Shortly after the rejection, the family of five were then sent demands to leave their property because they were living on it illegally.

The council has since backed down, the CEO has apologised, and they are trying to find a solution.

“Living in a caravan through floods and Covid has been testing our mental health,” she said.

Ironically, if the council had accepted the original DA that Mrs Osborn submitted September 29, 2020 – instead of rejecting it and asking for a whole new one to be resubmitted weeks later – the Osborns would have built their new homes already.

Lisa Osborn (left) is battling council over a DA for building homes on the land they bought two years ago. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

But because they missed the October 1 deadline – and the council is refusing to start the DA from the earlier date – the Osborns are drowning in bureaucracy.

Wollondilly Mayor Matt Gould said: “The restrictions on secondary dwellings in Silverdale due to the new Western Sydney Airport operations are an issue for the NSW Department of Planning, which brought in the changes in October 2020 without any meaningful community consultation”.

“Council is advocating strongly for these residents and calling on the NSW Government to change these unfair rules or at the very least provide a transition period so those with secondary dwelling applications already in the pipeline can have them considered under the previous planning rules,” he said.

“We’re also doing everything we can to support residents unfortunately impacted by this NSW Government decision with a hope that the Minister for Planning intervenes urgently.”

A Department of Planning spokesman said the changes “have been communicated to councils and residents since 2018”.

“These rules will allow construction of the new 24-hour international airport and also protect local residents – and the future community – from increased noise,” he said.

“These rules are in place to protect the curfew status of the airport including the ability for residents to enjoy outdoor areas and be able to open windows.

“Renovations, extensions and the construction of new houses will still be allowed on land where a subdivision has already been approved.”