Housing advocates call for density at north and west Sydney suburbs which received the NSW government’s $2.2b train upgrades

Advocates have pointed to a ‘missing middle’ overlooked on Sydney’s North Shore for more housing as the NSW Government pushes ahead with plans for density in Sydney’s north and west.

The Sydney Metro Northwest railink was built by Salini Impregilo (1) Train test over Windsor Road Bridge.

Housing advocates have criticised the NSW government’s focus on building homes around its “flashy new” Metro West project over North Shore train lines which received billions in station upgrades.

Transport for NSW (TfNSW) data reveals multiple stations along Sydney Trains’ T9 line – which runs from the CBD to Chatswood and Hornsby – see as few as 800 tap-ons daily despite receiving major upgrades designed to boost usage.

TfNSW data shows stations along the rail line including Beecroft, Cheltenham, Normanhurst and Thornleigh see as few as 4588 average daily visits, compared with around 22,000 daily at Blacktown and 13,000 at Bankstown.

Cheltenham station sees a mere 879 daily visits on average and neighbouring Beecroft station sees 1245 on average.

The Sydney Metro Northwest train line was completed in 2019.

The stations on the T9 line run from Sydney’s centre north and run parallel to the massive but partially constructed $25.3b Metro West line, where the state government plans to build 13,400 new homes including terraces and apartments in the next 20 years.

In contrast Hornsby Shire Council, which covers Beecroft and Cheltenham has a target set by the state government of between 3800 and 4200 new homes by 2026.

Member of the Sydney Yes In My Backyard (YIMBY) group, Sharath Mahendran said there was a “massive imbalance” across regions targeted for substantial density increases in the near to medium term.

Mr Mahendran said housing uplift across suburbs where money had been spent improving rail access had been hamstrung by councils, which had not allowed even moderate increases to density.

Sharath Mahendran member of Sydney YIMBY. Picture: supplied.

CEO of the NSW Urban Taskforce Tom Forrest. Picture: David Swift.

“These are projects that cost millions and millions of dollars,” he said.

“It costs a lot of money to upgrade a train station, [but] pretty much no one is actually using those stations compared to others.

“[Councils] are getting massive amounts of taxpayer money, but that taxpayer money isn’t being put to good use.

“It’s like building a bridge between two islands and then not letting anyone live on them.”

Urban Taskforce chief executive Tom Forrest said TfNSW had identified around 50 stations in the Sydney metro area that were able to support higher density targets – which would not put undue pressure on the public transport network.

Mr Forrest said train stations outside the Sydney Metro where there were facilities such as shops or schools should be considered for rezoning.

“Where the government is investing money in new public transport services, then those areas need to be the first to be targeted,” he said.

“But there will be other areas where there’s an under-utilisation of the existing transport infrastructure, and they should also be targeted for increased height and density.”

Current planned stations for the planned Sydney Metro as of 2022.

A TfNSW spokesman said more than $2.2b had been invested in the Transport Access Program (TAP) including multiple stations along the T9 line.

This included upgrades to “create better transport interchanges across NSW to support an integrated network” as well as accessibility upgrades at stations.

The 2023 NSW budget allocated $300m to expand on these upgrades including making commuter car parks more accessible, safe, and secure and creating precincts with other amenities available near train stations.

A spokesman for the Planning Department said the government was focused on delivering housing growth near jobs in locations where people want to live and work that are close to transport and other services.

“NSW is in a housing crisis, and we need to explore all opportunities to deliver more homes and more choice of low and mid-rise housing in well located areas within walking distance of transport,” the spokesman said.