Chris Minns, Mark Speakman hold rare bipartisan talks over housing crisis

This week, Chris Minns and Mark Speakman will unite in a bid to tackle the state’s housing crisis, marking the first time the two have convened a joint meeting.

Premier Chris Minns and State opposition leader Mark Speakman will convene a rare bipartisan meeting this week to tackle the State’s housing crisis, with fast-tracked suburban apartments on the agenda.

Prompted by Mr Speakman, it will be the first time the two political leaders will have convened a joint meeting, which are usually reserved for major crises.

The talks follows Mr Speakman writing to the premier last month to convene a roundtable to “identify key principles and bottlenecks, and set in train an expedited process, with a clear pathway and timetable, for legislative and other reform of our planning system”.

Mr Minns has not yet agreed to a broader roundtable involving stakeholders, but told Mr Speakman that he would meet on Tuesday with Planning Minister Paul Scully and State opposition housing spokesman Scott Farlow to also attend the talks.

NSW Liberal Party leader Mark Speakman. Picture: NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers

While the NSW government had already introduced a series of reforms such as the Transport Oriented Development program, the establishment of the Housing Delivery Authority and a pattern book, Mr Minns said there was an opportunity to “entrench these changes into law” and also look for “other reforms that could be included”.

“The government is treating this as a genuine opportunity to discuss how as a state we can further advance reform of the planning system and deliver much needed housing across the State,” he said.

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released this month for the November period showed the total number of approved dwellings fell 3.6 percent nationally.

In NSW, building approvals plunged 9.9 percent.

In a bid to further cut red tape, the premier last year stripped councils of the power to block specific large new residential developments in NSW in a move he said was designed to speed up approval and delivery times.

Mr Speakman and Mr Farlow have spent the past two weeks meeting with property stakeholders, developers, planners and former planning ministers to come up with feasible solutions to the housing crisis.

NSW Premier Chris Minns. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

One of the items up for discussion will be an extension of the complying development certificate scheme, whereby specified types of buildings are approved via a fast-tracked assessment by council or private certifier.

It is understood Mr Speakman and Mr Farlow will put on the table a proposal for small apartments of three to four storeys to also be added to the scheme, enabling developers to bypass the tedious council approval process.

Mr Speakman said he still wanted a roundtable to be held, but declared the meeting “a useful first step”.

“We’ll continue to hold the Government to account on its failures on the biggest hurdles to housing affordability – absence of financial feasibility to build new homes, little work for supporting infrastructure and failure to stand up to Canberra on immigration,” he said.

“The slow and complex planning system is another hurdle, and we’re keen to see if we can have a bipartisan approach with Government to improve the system.

“Families across NSW are struggling to put a roof over their heads and the stakes couldn’t be higher – NSW can’t afford more delays in getting homes built.”

Originally published as Chris Minns, Mark Speakman hold rare bipartisan talks over housing crisis