Sydney mayors, anti-development protesters hit NSW parliament iagainst increased density

Angry mayors and residents have raged outside parliament over plans to increase housing density in wealthy parts of Sydney.

About 200 people have held a furious protest against the NSW government’s proposed development reforms to build higher and denser apartment builds in Sydney.

Local mayors from a contingent of councils including Hills Shire, Woollahra, Randwick, Hunters Hill, North Shore rallied in the Domain outside parliament on Tuesday, in joint opposition of the government’s Transport Orientated Development scheme.

They have accused the state government of attempting to “approve their way out of a crisis”.

The Minns government wants to build an estimated 185,800 new homes alongside key transport hubs over the next 15 year through its controversial Transport Orientated Development scheme (TOD), targeting medium and high density apartment builds.

Opposing the reform were a mix of community groups crying out against medium and high density builds in their suburbs, including Save Double Bay from High Rise, Blue Mountains Conservation Society, Protect Pittwater, Friends of Oatley, Save Glenlee, and protest organiser the Save Greater Sydney Coalition.

Community groups from all over Sydney stormed the Domain, outside NSW parliament, to protest the housing reforms. Picture: NCA NewsWire

Attendees carried placards fearing that apartments would destroy their area’s heritage, environment and liveability, with organisers erecting a banner which read: “Minns’ wrecking ball is coming to you”.

Opposition to the government’s Transport Orientated Development scheme also drew a rare united front from NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman and NSW Greens MP Sue Higginson.

Mr Speakman called on the government to investigate other options for housing reform, such as incentivising downsizing by removing stamp duty and petitioning against the federal government’s immigration boom to lower demand on existing homes.

“One of the reasons we’ve got family homes locked up is because of the high transaction costs in downsizing,” he said, adding that 1.4m people in NSW were living in three bedroom homes, with three-quarters of them over 55.

Ms Higginson said the TOD was a “grab to the property development council, lobby and industry,” that failed to acknowledge the “complex and compelling needs of communities across the state”.

“Planning done well is innovative, it’s creative, it’s hopeful and it doesn’t cause division.”

Hills Shire Mayor Peter Gangemi said.

He feared the rezoning reform would destroy “carefully calibrated community character”.

He said that as one of the fastest growing councils, the key difficulty was with building and homes, not rezoning approvals.

“We’ve got enough land zoned for 50,000 more dwellings, and in the last 10 years we’ve had 30,000 dwelling approvals, but only 18,000 constructed,” he said.

“This housing crisis is not caused by councils, it’s not caused by a lack of approvals, it’s not caused by a lack of zonings,” he said.

“You cannot zone your way out of this crisis. You cannot approve your way out of your crisis.”

Mayors from several councils, including the Randwick, North Sydney, Hills Shire, Woollahra and Hunters Hills Council, attended the protest.

North Sydney Mayor Zoe Baker said the government was pitting councils against the state, and ignoring taxation system, high cost of financing construction and the “fragile position of the construction sector,” that are also factors which led to the housing crisis.

“This divisive NIMBY, YIMBY, Eastern Sydney, Western Sydney thing does not help. Pitting council against council does not help,” he said.

“It all just gets in the way of councils and communities working collaboratively with the state government to accommodate density.”

She called on the state government to release the new housing targets councils would be required to deliver under the TOD.

“The fact is local place-based planning in partnership with local communities delivers great outcomes,” he said.

“People will accept radical change, even when the changes impact their amenity if they’ve been given a voice as part of the planning process.”

Carrying a placard that said: “Save my heritage” home, Linfield resident Donna Palmer feared the rezoning could put her 107-year-old heritage home at risk because it falls in the catchment area of the TOD development.

“If one person sells anywhere near us, basically we’re facing nine stories right up to our border, which makes living where we are next to impossible. We’re forced out by somebody else’s decision,” she said.

“We haven’t lived in this house for 24 years and lovingly restored it to see a bulldozer go through it. That’s very devastating for us.”

Linfield resident Donna Palmer feared the new housing reforms could threaten her 103-year-old heritage home.

Shankar Sapkota said he was critical of new apartment builds.

Another Ku-ring-gai resident, and a current renter, Shankar Sapkota, 31, said he was happy to live in an apartment but didn’t want a small-sized apartment that would be ill-suited for a family.

“I’m happy to make do with something I can call a home. It doesn’t have to be a freestanding home on a quarter-acre block. It could be a nice apartment which is decently sized for a family,” he said.

“I’ve lived in apartments all my life and the quality of the new builds just isn’t fitting. You’re spending a million dollars, and you’re still not getting what you want.”

Originally published as Sydney mayors, anti-development protesters hit NSW parliament iagainst increased density