The latest ‘affordable housing’ reforms by the NSW Labor government have been roundly criticised by the peak body representing councils, with Local Government NSW (LGNSW) saying it ‘further erodes council involvement in town planning, giving developers increasingly free rein in both city and country’.
The legislation that governs NSW ‘affordable housing’ is the State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP), and a revamped SEPP came into effect last week under NSW Labor, which aims ‘to make it faster and easier to build more affordable housing’.
It followed the original policy announcement made earlier in June.
A joint statement by Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Paul Scully, and Minister for Housing, Homelessness and the North Coast, Rose Jackson, spun a positive message around the reform, including amendments ‘to ensure the bonuses are available to Build to Rent developments, by allowing them to apply in commercial zones, even if residential accommodation is prohibited under the relevant Local Environmental Plan (LEP)’.
Inconsistent statements
Ms Jackson said, in the media release, ‘These reforms are about bringing together all key delivery partners while making sure we consider the views of councils and communities, so we get high quality homes supported by the right infrastructure and amenity.’
Yet LGNSW president, Cr Turley, said the new SEPP removes councils from the approval process, which removes community checks and balances, and that the reforms also do not address how the infrastructure required by the additional density and growth in population would be funded.
‘You can vote out a council which makes planning decisions you don’t support, but you have no such power to get rid of the bureaucrats,’ she said.
The Echo asked the office of Ms Jackson why she believes councils’ views were considered in the revised SEPP, given the views of LGNSW.
Additionally, The Echo asked how can the NSW government ‘be confident that their affordable housing reform will be effective, given there is no measure of effectiveness in this reform?’.
Also, ‘Does Ms Jackson support a parliamentary inquiry into the SEPP to establish how affordable housing outcomes can be measured and improved?’
Ms Jackson’s reply will be published if received.
Cr Turley added the SEPP change also allows developers of the biggest buildings to bypass every single component of the council approval process, leaving no protection for local communities.
‘Under the State Significant Development (SSD) pathway, communities will be at the mercy of faceless government bureaucrats any time a building costs more than $75m in the city, or $30m in regional areas’, she said.
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