When it comes to Sydney’s housing affordability crisis, things tend to get contentious.
Whether you’re feeling worn out by Saturday mornings spent traipsing around dingy apartments with rents that make you want to cry, given up on the dream of ever buying because you can barely afford a car spot, or, as some members of the Inner West community are feeling, enraged at the prospect of your neighbourhood changing forever because of a major new development, you can probably agree on one thing: Sydney’s housing situation is less than ideal.
In an effort to address this, Inner West Council recently passed ‘Our Fairer Future’ plan, which aims to deliver 20,000 to 30,000 new homes to the Inner West over the next 15 years.
This decision was met with significant community backlash in the Inner West, with local residents concerned that the ‘Fairer Future Plan’ would eradicate a sense of community, hurt heritage institutions and businesses, and fail to provide adequate green and park space.
As a result of the community protests, the plan underwent significant amendments, with the most notable being the reduction of 5,000 proposed homes in Marrickville, Dulwich Hill and Ashfield.
Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne noted that some of those homes would be redistributed to the Parramatta Road corridor, which will accept a total of 8,000 new homes as part of a partnership between the Council and the NSW Government.
“Our Fairer Future Plan will stop the exodus of young people and essential workers from the Inner West and make sure that in the decades to come our children and grandchildren can have a home in the community they love,” said Byrne.
The plan also has a strong emphasis on increasing the number of affordable, social housing dwellings in the Inner West and Sydney.
Five Council-owned carparks will transform into around 350 new social housing dwellings, while churches and faith-based charities will be allowed to redevelop their land for housing, provided that 30 percent of all homes are social housing. In addition, three of all private developments in up-zoned areas will be required to be affordable housing, matching the City of Sydney’s policy.
Byrne said the Council had rejected private development proposals that would have required building huge skyscrapers to accommodate extra affordable housing. Instead, it adopted a plan that provides new Inner West homes without sacrificing the area’s heritage and character.
“By concentrating new homes around main streets and transport hubs, we have been able to protect heritage conservation zones in a way the NSW Government’s rezoning would not have,” Byrne said.
Finally, the Council also voted to establish a community infrastructure fund with around $500 million. This money will be invested over the next 10 years to create new open spaces, transport links and community facilities, with immediate consultation planned to determine the best investments for the growing population.
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