Ambitious housing plan causes concern among council
GREATER Sydney Commission’s draft south district plan for building seven houses a day has been labelled ‘unachievable’ and by Canterbury-Bankstown Council.
The Express
Don't miss out on the headlines from The Express. Followed categories will be added to My News.
TO build seven houses a day is “unachievable” and “ambitious at best”, says Canterbury-Bankstown Council.
The council has raised serious questions over the Greater Sydney Commission’s seven-house a day target for the city and the feasibility of the commission’s draft south district plan which also takes in the Sutherland and Georges River local government areas.
At a council meeting last week, Canterbury-Bankstown administrator Richard Colley made the unprecedented move to exhibit the council’s submission on the plan to receive community feedback.
The biggest stumbling block for the council is the housing targets that propose Canterbury-Bankstown deliver 13,250 dwellings over the next five years — or seven houses a day.
In comparison, 5,824 dwellings were delivered in Canterbury-Bankstown over the past five years — or three houses a day.
The new target means the council would need to more than double its current delivery rate.
Other problems with the plan have been identified — the proposed downgrade of Bankstown Airport, a push for medium-density housing and a “lack of detail” on affordable housing supply.
Mr Colley said he was sceptical of the housing targets as they were “unachievable without upfront infrastructure support from the State Government.
“It is unclear how the Greater Sydney Commission arrived at the housing target. Without demonstrating the planning work required to arrive at the short term target, council is concerned the housing target is unfeasible,” he said.
The commission denied there was no explanation of how the targets were decided.
A commission spokesman told The Express they had explained to the council at “a number of” technical working meetings that the targets were based on the Department of Planning and Environment’s existing methodologies.
He said they were working with the council to “pressure test the numbers”.
“That there are organisations or community members who don’t agree with aspects of our draft District Plans does not surprise us.
“Finding out those views is … why the draft plans are on public exhibition,” he said.
Submissions by March 31 to: greater.sydney/district-plans
$355m loss: NSW worst pokie hotspots
This is where NSW pokie players have lost more than $355 million in four months. Search and check our interactive table to see if it’s where you live and how your suburb compares.
Real estate agent’s mental health plea after awkward cocaine find
A Sydney real estate agent who was discovered hiding cocaine in his underpants while in police custody has had his matter dismissed on mental health grounds. Here’s the latest.