With answers like these, Sydney’s ‘land audit’ might need an audit of its own

The land audit to identify surplus government property that could be turned into housing was one of Chris Minns’ top priorities when he announced it in May 2023, weeks into his term as premier.

It was never going to be a simple task – government departments and agencies have a habit of holding on to their land for dear life, even when it’s underutilised or vacant. Just ask Transport, which has sat on prime inner-city “ghost blocks” for decades.

The Clothing Store sub-precinct in North Eveleigh has been marked by the Minns government as a site for affordable housing development.Credit: Jessica Hromas

We are told the ongoing audit has so far unearthed 44 suitable sites in Sydney and the regions. The government has elected to announce just four of them, including 500 homes at the Clothing Store sub-precinct of North Eveleigh.

But that wasn’t exactly a new discovery. The previous government already identified that land as surplus, and opened expressions of interest for developers to build 600 build-to-rent homes there. The three other sites announced so far – in Camperdown, Kellyville and Camden – will yield about 200 homes in total.

The opposition has portrayed the land audit as a mess and a failure. And with answers like those provided – or not provided – at Tuesday’s budget estimates, you can understand why.

Lands and Property Minister Steve Kamper complained about having to field “specific, detailed” questions about the four sites coughed up by the audit so far – such as which government entity owned them, what was currently on them, their value, or what would be built on them.

“Minister, it’s budget estimates,” Liberal planning spokesman Scott Farlow retorted. “You’ve only got four sites. It’s not like I’m asking you to go through thousands.”

A government-owned former Westconnex dive site in Camperdown that is slated for redevelopment into homes.Credit: Peter Rae

Regarding a 1.2 hectare ex-dive site on Parramatta Road in Camperdown, bureaucrats advised no final decision had been made about the kind of homes to be built on the “large and complex” site, two months after the government announced it would be redeveloped for more than 100 homes in partnership with the private sector.

The development could still include housing for key workers, such as nurses at the nearby RPA hospital, bureaucrats confirmed. Groups including Sydney YIMBY, the Property Council and the Committee for Sydney had criticised the government for neglecting that outcome on the site.

Lands and Property Minister Steve Kamper.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Kamper said the audit had no deadline and was ongoing, prompting Farlow to liken it to The Song That Doesn’t End from ’90s children’s TV show Lamb Chop’s Play-Along. “This land audit seems to be going swimmingly so far,” he said, dripping in sarcasm.

The other 40 sites will be announced “in due course”, Kamper said. It’s not entirely clear whether that’s a political decision or because they are still working out what to build there.

As Kamper protests, he is a middleman of sorts in this process. His job is to find the surplus land, hand it over to Homes NSW or Landcom, or sell it to private developers.

“There are thousands of parcels of land that we’re assessing, I can’t know what’s on every single site,” he told Farlow. “My job is to deliver land so that we can build homes. We’ve taken on that task because of your inaction for 12 years.”

It certainly doesn’t help the Liberals’ cause that, until recently, they were trying to unravel another of the government’s programs to boost housing supply, the Transport-Oriented Development Program.

But at the end of the day, Kamper is the minister carrying the land audit, and there does appear to be a disconnect between the urgency with which the government speaks about the housing crisis and the speed and efficacy of the process he is overseeing.

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