NSW Premier Chris Minns is facing a battle from local councils over new housing plans he has put forward for the state.
The state government is aiming to lift the number of houses built in NSW as demand grows for places to live and migration drives Australia’s population up to 27 million.
Councils have claimed the government hasn’t carried out planning in consultation with communities and also that it hasn’t shared enough information on the zoning changes.
Fairfield mayor Frank Carbone flagged one of his major concerns about the Premier’s plans was the shift to dual-occupancies which would increase density.
He also raised serious issue with the small size of proposed new dual-occupancy units arguing there be enough carparks for the people living there.
“This is third world planning in the first world and it’s just terrible what they’re actually proposing to do”, Mr Carbone told Chris Kenny on Sky News Australia on Tuesday night.
“Out here in the Western suburbs, where we’ve got large families, for every single block of land, and yet especially close to the shopping centres, when people in the western suburbs need their cars, they need the cars to get to work. They need their cars to go out with their family and their friends.
“I mean, this is just terrible planning by the Premier. And the worst thing about it is he’s accusing councils. There is plenty of housing, but it is a problem that people cannot afford to build housing.”
Mr Minns said he planned to drive NSW’s annual average of 48,000 new homes to 70,000 with the new plans.
Despite strong pushback from other councils with concerns over how new dwellings might increase density in particular areas, Mr Minns has threatened to take planning powers away from councils to allow the state government to push ahead if there was no “genuine progress” made in relation to planning restrictions.
“This has been the situation in New South Wales for over a decade, is everybody saying ‘we’re not prepared to take anything’ and ‘we’re not even prepared to negotiate around the table’? Those days are over,” he told Sky News Australia’s Laura Jayes on Tuesday morning.
Mr Carbone took issue with the Premier’s claim that councils weren’t preparing to accept more people amid high migration in Australia in recent years, recalling how his council took in 20,000 people in two years alone.
“We’re actually the settlement city of Australia when it comes to migration so it’s really false what he’s actually saying,” he said.
“The other point is, all councils already have plans for housing. We have plenty of housing for people to actually, come and living and to develop and to knock over and to build more homes. But the Premier is failing to tell people is that they’ve tripled migration, with 500,000 people coming into the country.
“That means that everyone has to squeeze in because quite simply, people can’t afford to buy a new home, so everyone’s competing for existing homes. So that’s why you’re seeing house prices going up at a time when you’ve got really high interest rates.”
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