A warning that Sydney may lose its grandchildren is helping drive a state-council rezoning deal for Parramatta Road that could see 8000 new homes close to the CBD.
And news of the deal was welcomed by the Property Council of Australia.
The proposed rezoning would cover that section of Parramatta Road within the Inner West Local Government Area and will add to work under way by Inner West, Burwood and Canada Bay councils.
The NSW Productivity Commissioner warned in a statement released in February that high housing costs are driving young families out of Sydney.
“Sydney is losing its 30–40-year-olds,” said NSW Productivity Commissioner Peter Achterstraat.
“If we don’t act, we could become known as the city with no grandchildren.”
And he was very clear about the cause.
“Many young families are leaving Sydney because they can’t afford to buy a home or they can only afford one in the outer suburbs with a long commute,” he said.
“New apartments and townhouses in inner suburbs will let young families live near their parents and their children’s grandparents.”
He says that 45,000 extra homes could have been built between 2017 and 2022 with no extra land by allowing higher building density.
“This could have seen prices and rents five-and-a-half per cent lower — $35 a week for the median apartment or a saving of $1800 a year for renters.”
The government says its previous efforts targeting Parramatta Rd include fast-tracking eight new projects to build 3968 homes, identifying three more sites which can house 800 more homes, a new precinct at Homebush and North Burwood that combined will deliver up to 33,000 homes and 11 low and mid-rise building sites along the length of the road.
Compulsory acquisitions are not proposed under this new plan, the government says.
NSW Premier Chris Minns says “Parramatta Road has been talked about for decades with little result”.
“It’s time to stop talking and start building. What will transform this major corridor is more homes for people to revitalise this area.”
Planning Minister Paul Scully says, “Parramatta Road needs more homes and jobs … it’s a major transport corridor … but can be so much than a tired thoroughfare.”
MP for Summer Hill Jo Haylen says that “for too long, the road has been a missed opportunity to deliver more homes for young people and families”.
Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne says new homes are “desperately needed”.
“Local people are telling us that the Parramatta Rd corridor is the right location for higher residential densities.”
PROPERTY COUNCIL HAILS PARRAMATTA RD PROPOSAL
Property Council of Australia NSW Executive Director Katie Stevenson says the decision “is the kind of ambition Sydney needs”.
Stevenson says the announcement incorporates many of their proposals in a submission it made to Inner West Council.
“We strongly supported council’s ambition to exceed its housing targets and the recognition that transport corridors like Parramatta Rd are the right places for density,” she said.
The Property Council submission, she says, also calls for higher floor space ratios and greater flexibility to create larger sites, more space within 800 metres of transport hubs and the protection of nearly 1400 homes in the planning pipeline.
“Planning decisions must be matched with the right feasibility settings. If the allowed building density is too low or affordable housing contributions are not offset with genuine uplifts, we risk good plans sitting on paper rather than turning into homes on the ground,” she says.
Stevenson says the next step must be aligning planning, infrastructure, and investment settings with more spending on transport, community facilities and faster approvals required.
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