The planning reforms announced by NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes are a step in the right direction but much more reform is needed to boost Sydney’s housing supply, says the Urban Taskforce.
“Most of the proposed planning reforms will be positive but to really address Sydney’s housing supply problem will need bolder approaches,” says Urban Taskforce CEO, Chris Johnson. “Minister Stokes says that Sydney has a short fall of 100,000 new homes and despite improved housing completions of 31,000 a year we are well below the 40,000 needed in boom times.”
“The current reforms are less controversial than the previous proposal under Minister Hazzard to rewrite the whole planning act and while this means there is likely to be general support they also will have a lesser impact. While the reforms have been packaged as a response to Sydney’s growing housing supply and affordability problem they are really a refinement of the planning system.”
“Many of the proposed reforms are positive. The support for independent assessment panels with the right people selected could streamline development approvals. The standardisation of Development Control Plans is long overdue. The strengthening of the Department of Planning’s role in ensuring timely inputs from other government agencies is also a good move. NSW could learn from the Queensland State Assessment and Referral Authority (SARA) which has tight KPIs for referral advice.”
“The policy directions for Planning Agreements could help give clarity in this area although we are concerned that some re-zonings with planning agreements are on hold awaiting the finalisation of council plans.”
“The Urban Taskforce is however concerned at the proposal to require early consultation with neighbours. With large projects this could mean having discussions with scores of different neighbours, all with different and potentially conflicting concerns. This could lead to a Dutch auction with winners and losers outside the formal planning framework. For a single house early consultation is easy but for a large development it becomes much more complex.”
“The Urban Taskforce supports a greater use of complying development where a quicker approval comes when an application complies with the rules. We believe this approach should be extended to 6 storey apartment buildings and that a complying code should be developed for this building type.”
“Overall the Urban Taskforce is supportive of most of the planning reform package. The recent discussion in the media through politicians on Sydney’s housing supply problem has been linked to the package of reforms but in no way will they bring about the changes needed to boost supply to the extent needed.”
“The Urban Taskforce is keen to work with the NSW government in refining the reform package.