15 December 2014
The release of “A Plan for Growing Sydney” has some excellent objectives about accelerating housing supply and urban renewal but its ultimate success will depend on strong leadership from the proposed Greater Sydney Commission says the Urban Taskforce.
“ It is good to see that the final version of the Metropolitan Strategy for Sydney has now been released and that it has a strong emphasis on growth and the need to accelerate housing supply.” says Urban Taskforce CEO Chris Johnson “It is almost 2 years since the draft was exhibited and hopefully the NSW government will move faster on the implementation of the next layer of the sub regional plans where actual targets are set.”
“ The main change from the draft plan of early 2013 is that the detailed targets for sub regional areas have been deleted and a new approach to driving outcomes has been instigated with the delegation of sub regional plans to the Greater Sydney Commission. This demonstrates stronger state leadership with the commission being an independent body that takes ownership of the delivery of the plan.”
“ The expectation is that these sub regional plans can be completed as drafts by the middle of 2015 and that the plans will become planning policy through the government issuing a new Local Planning Direction to all 41 councils.”
“ The success of the Plan for Growing Sydney will depend a lot on the makeup of the commission. It is good to see that funds have been allocated for the commission and that it will begin soon in an interim form as a Ministerial Advisory Committee. We will be keen to see who is appointed to the advisory committee and ultimately to the Greater Sydney Commission.”
“ The focus on Parramatta as the second CBD for metro Sydney is positive as is the focus on the broader area connecting Parramatta to the Olympic site with the potential renewal of Camelia and surrounding areas.”
“ Two new enterprise corridors are proposed from Leppington to Badgery’s Creek and from Bankstown to Liverpool. These have good opportunities to have a more flexible approach to zoning where the market place can play a stronger role in proposing uses and building form.”
“ A big focus is on urban renewal corridors that follow the railway lines and the encouragement of greater densities and heights at the railway stations. The Urban Taskforce recently produced a publication titled “Towers and Transport” that suggested a third of Sydney’s future population could be located in these urban renewal corridors.”
“ The Urban Taskforce is particularly supportive of the objectives in the plan to raise the height of towers in the Sydney CBD so that Sydney can keep its place as Australia’s premier city. The Urban Taskforce has campaigned on this issue and we are keen to work with the government on achieving this.”
“ The proposal to make Macarthur South an Urban Investigation Area with the potential for it to become the next growth area is very positive. A number of Urban Taskforce members have potential projects in this area and we are keen to work with the government on how infrastructure is provided and on the timing of this development.”
“ It is good to see the role of UrbanGrowth NSW reinforced with key roles in a number of Priority Precincts (formerly Urban Activation Precincts) and in key corridors like Parramatta Road.”
“ The industry and the community will need to understand a number of new terms including Urban Renewal Corridors, Priority Growth Areas, Urban Investigation Areas and no doubt others in the 130 page plan.”
“ The Urban Taskforce congratulates the NSW Government on issuing “A Plan for Growing Sydney” and on the tone of the document with a clear use of active words like growing, accelerating and driving. The Urban Taskforce is keen to work with the government, the Ministerial Advisory Committee and the Greater Sydney Commission in ensuring the plan for Sydney becomes reality.
