30 January 2012
The Urban Taskforce has welcomed the appointment of John Brogden as the new Chair of Landcom.
“John Brogden’s clear interest in planning and urban development issues, along with his understanding of state politics, puts him in a perfect position to take a leadership role in the urban renewal of metropolitan Sydney.” says Urban Taskforce CEO Chris Johnson.
“There are too many government agencies overlapping in the area of urban development including; Landcom, the Metropolitan Development Authority, the Central Coast Development Authority and parts of other government agencies. These would become more effective if they worked together within the one agency.”
“The development industry would be concerned however, if Landcom became a direct competitor to the private sector in the development of new housing. There is a clear role to tackle difficult sites and to work in joint ventures with the private sector . We need to have early talks with John Brogden to get the role of government agencies clear, so that the innovation of the private sector can flourish.”
“With the supply of housing in Metropolitan Sydney continuing to be only half of what is needed, a strong Urban Renewal Authority under Brogden could provide leadership through the amalgamation of land and the fast tracking of approvals to lift our performance.”
“The Metropolitan Strategy for Sydney estimates that we need 770,000 new housing units by 2036.” Mr Johnson said “That is 30,000 a year yet we are well below that and probably the worst performing city in Australia, on a per capita basis. We need strong leadership and the Urban Taskforce members are very keen to talk to John Brogden about how the city can regain its development confidence.”
The Urban Taskforce is a property development industry group, representing Australias most prominent property developers and equity financiers.
