10 March 2014
The new mandate for UrbanGrowth NSW is a clear demonstration of the shift in Sydney towards urban development, says the Urban Taskforce.
“In its previous guise as Landcom the NSW Government development agency mainly focussed on suburban development on Sydney’s fringe but the new mandate has refocussed the agency on urban renewal projects in the inner city areas,” says Urban Taskforce CEO, Chris Johnson. “This is a clear indication of the major shift that is occurring in Sydney towards more urban lifestyles with many people preferring apartment living.”
“The Parramatta Road urban renewal project has enormous potential to develop a new mixed use approach to apartment living along with inner urban jobs and retail. Hopefully UrbanGrowth will use its new mandate to promote innovation in how the private sector, the community and government interact in delivering a new approach to redevelopment as a ‘Liveability Corridor’”.
“The Central to Eveleigh project will require robust development to cover the costs of the infrastructure required to build over the railway and the Urban Taskforce believes that communities need to know this. The maps for the Central to Eveleigh project indicate the possibility of including the Redfern Waterloo housing estates where new development could help revitalise these areas. We would support UrbanGrowth being involved in these areas.”
“The Newcastle urban renewal project has the potential to be a great catalyst for the redevelopment of Newcastle.”
“The Urban Taskforce fully supports the stronger more urban role and mandate that the Government has given to UrbanGrowth NSW. Clearly the planning system at the strategic end and at the approval end needs to support the mandate for UrbanGrowth NSW to increase the supply of housing and jobs. UrbanGrowth will need to be very involved in upfront strategic planning and this must be supported across state and local government.”
“To achieve the objective of driving increases in the supply of housing and jobs, UrbanGrowth will need to take a strong advocacy role within the community to swing a generally unsupportive community in terms of growth towards being positive about growth and development. The Urban Taskforce is keen to work with the NSW Government on advocating for quality new development.”
