Claims Sydney suburb to be filled with six-storey apartments lashed
The minister tasked with bringing more housing to Sydney has quickly dispelled claims an inner city suburb would be filled with six-storey apartments.
The NSW Housing Minister Paul Scully has moved quickly to dismiss claims a highly populated inner Sydney council would be covered in six-story apartments under the government’s proposed planning reforms.
The details were revealed in briefing documents shared ahead of a December meeting with the Planning minister, Sydney mayors and senior bureaucrats.
The documents said the proposed changes would allow for the mid-rise apartment blocks, with specific reference to “six storey apartments”, to be built in areas 800m away from town centres and transport hubs, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.
“For the Inner West, which is entirely mapped as ‘well located’, this will mean … that six-storey apartments will be possible across the LGA (even though some consolidation is required),” the notes stated.
However, the claims have been watered down by Mr Scully, following criticism and concern from Inner West Council Mayor Darcy Byrne.
He said it would be a “pretty extreme outcome” for the inner-city council to be filled with six-storey apartments, even if planning controls would be relaxed to allow for the homes to be built.
“I don’t think that’s what anyone’s aiming for here,” he said.
He also moved quickly to relieve any concern from residents.
“They shouldn’t be concerned about that. What we’re doing is putting density in the right places, we want well located, well designed and well built homes,” he said, speaking to ABC Radio Sydney.
“This is not open slather.”
The comments come as the state government aims to reach its National Housing Accord targets of building 376,000 homes between 2024 to 2029. It aims to do this by loosening planning reforms to allow medium and high density builds in city centres located near public transport hubs.
The possibility of six-storey apartments cropping up in the Inner West has been rejected by Mr Byrne.
“I don’t know if rezoning the whole of the Inner West is just another bureaucrat’s thought bubble, but this contradicts public statements of the Premier and the Planning Minister,” he said.
“Allowing six storey apartment blocks in every single street in the Inner West is absurd and we will fight hard against such a simplistic proposal.”
He’s criticised the state government for refusing to engage on rezoning proposals, and said councils needed to be given dwelling targets so they can where “new housing can best be located”.
“We want to take responsibility for increasing housing supply but the ongoing mixed messages from the Government makes that hard to do,” he said.
“A year since the election they’ve not completed their own audit of lands for housing, there’s been no legislation brought forward on renters rights and no new funding for public housing.
“Last August we offered the NSW Government 10 of our own carparks and depots for conversion to public housing but are still waiting on an official response to our offer.”
However, Mr Scully reaffirmed the government’s commitment to working with local councils, and said they would still be able to assess development approvals in accordance with overshadowing sunlight privacy, traffic, heritage, and flooding.
“What we are saying is where there’s many council areas that have not permitted certain types of dwellings, we want them to consider that, and to consider those housing types,” he said.
“because over the last few years, what’s happened in Sydney is not only have we come, and become the second most expensive city on the planet … we’ve also got less diversity of housing.”
Under the Transport Orientated Development State Environmental Planning Policy scheme, areas within 400m of 31 well-located and rail and metro stations have been tapped to allow the build of residential flat buildings from April 2024.
Suburbs in the Inner West which will be subjected to the scheme include Croydon, Dulwhich Hill, Ashfield, and Marrickville.
The changes could allow the build of 138,000 new homes over 15 years, and include a minimum 2 per cent mandate for affordable housing on new developments.