“New housing announcement”- A win for Sydney (2)

18 March 2013

The Urban Taskforce fully supports the NSW Government’s announcement of 8 new Urban Activation Precincts in Sydney as well as new housing in the growth cities.

 

“This is the leadership we need from the State Government so that Sydney’s growth can be well managed, says Urban Taskforce CEO, Chris Johnson. “Sydney needs a range of housing densities that add diversity from new houses on the cities fringe to urban density.”

 

The rezoning of large areas of land in the north-west and south-west growth centres for 38,450 new homes is a welcome move by the Government.

 

“The Urban Activation Precincts will need to encourage apartments which are increasingly becoming a preferred housing type for many people in Sydney. The 2011 census indicated that 27.6% of Sydney households were in higher density households and recent planning approvals indicate a big swing towards apartments.

 

“The swing to apartment living is likely to increase dramatically as younger generation X and Y demographics prefer to live in more urban locations close to amenities. Retiring Baby Boomers also want to live near where the action is.

 

“The obvious location for higher density housing is around transport nodes and town centres and this is what the Urban Activation Precincts seem to focus on. It will be important to achieve feasible development on these urban sites.

 

“The planning system needs to balance the concerns of community groups, who are understandable suspicious of growth with the need to house future generations. The Urban Activation Precincts must be planned to ensure that densities and heights are at a level that makes development economically feasible otherwise the plans will only ever be plans.

 

 

The Urban Taskforce is keen to work with the NSW Government to contribute market and economic feasibility knowledge to the planning process so that real projects will occur.

 

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