Wealthy Sydney councils to tackle housing

Woollahra, Waverley and Randwick councils in Sydney’s east are trying to stop the exodus of key workers like teachers and nurses by delivering affordable housing.

Dover Heights in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. Woollahra, Waverley, and Randwick councils are looking to join forces to deliver affordable housing. Picture: Brad Hunter / NewsCorp

Three councils in Sydney’s up-market east are set to join forces to stave off the exodus of key workers such as teachers and nurses who can no longer afford to live near some of the country’s most expensive suburbs.

The plan means Woollahra, Waverley and Randwick councils – from Vaucluse in the north to Botany Bay in the south – would pool money, expertise and resources to tackle the lack of ­affordable housing.

Woollahra’s environmental planning committee recently ­endorsed the proposal in which staff would co-operate with the two other councils to produce a joint discussion paper.

The NSW government’s ­approach to affordable housing planning, a council report said, had been “ineffective in delivering affordable housing” in the Woollahra local government area.

Mayor Susan Wynne echoed the sentiment. “Even for developers, it is 100 per cent an afterthought,” she told The Australian.

The plan, if enacted in some form, would position the councils outside the typical planning policy framework.

It could see councils collectively own properties and partner with community housing providers, which the report said had “the capacity to attract grant funding and provide finance, such as low-cost, long-term loans”.

The study would also identify funds each council could contribute and identify publicly owned land that could host affordable housing development.

“Staff across all three councils agree that there are many benefits to taking a sub-regional ­approach to affordable housing,” the report said.

“Also, the high cost of land in the Woollahra LGA impacts on the ability to deliver affordable housing, and by taking a collaborative approach, affordable housing could be more efficiently delivered on lower value sites in adjoining LGAs while still providing the occupants with reasonable proximity to work in the Woollahra LGA.”

Land is generally cheaper and more abundant in Randwick.

The move comes amid nat­ionally high housing costs and low supply. Ms Wynne said the community had ongoing challenges since the pandemic.

“When we had Covid … we’d look and say ‘There’s a real shortfall in nurses, should we turn our minds to community housing providers to provide housing for nurses?’ ” she said.

Ms Wynne said key workers – nurses, teachers, defence personnel and police – were finding it hard to stay in the area. In 2021, the Woollahra LGA had an estimated shortfall of 1900 affordable homes.

She also highlighted challenges of women fleeing domestic violence.

“When they’re given money from the government to relocate, they can’t relocate here, it’s too expensive,” she said.

“That’s a ­really big issue especially if you’ve got children. Suddenly there’s this whole upheaval in their lives and they’re removed out somewhere they don’t have any contacts, they don’t have their local doctor, the school networks.”

Randwick and Waverley councils will consider the collaboration in the next month.