20 June 2013
The announcement by the NSW Government that a draft master plan had been endorsed by the local council for Wilton Junction and that investigations had begun into a new town of 12,000 homes, demonstrates the value of the government calling for sites suitable for housing, says the Urban Taskforce.
The governments Potential Home Sites Program where landowners are invited to nominate suitable housing sites is an excellent method to get the private sector to provide housing, says Urban Taskforce CEO, Chris Johnson. Government planners can colour maps but it is the private sector who own land and who are ready and able to develop this land to contribute to housing supply.
The private developers need to contribute to the infrastructure costs and demonstrate how their development impacts will be managed and it seems that a number of developers are keen to do this at Wilton.
Importantly the master plan also allows for 11,000 jobs so that work opportunities are provided near to homes thus reducing travel times.
It would seem that the governments support for such significant development at Wilton means that it has no chance to be a second airport for Sydney and this puts more importance on the Badgerys Creek site for a new Western Sydney Airport. Development of a new airport would bring even more jobs to the Western Sydney region.
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