Final plans must balance jobs housing and growth

Final plans must balance jobs, housing and growth The Greater Sydney Commission must approach Sydney’s future with a clear balance between our economic future and the housing and social needs of our community, according to the Property Council of Australia. Submissions to the draft District Plans closed on the 31st of March with thousands of pages of submissions for the Greater Sydney Commission staff to sift through – but the key to a sound final version of the plans will be getting the balance right. “The Property Council’s submissions focus on the balance between housing, jobs and growth. The final District Plans need to provide leadership on how outcomes will be achieved through governance and implementation and more guidance on the delicate balance between jobs and housing,” Property Council NSW Executive Director Jane Fitzgerald said today “Housing supply and affordability is critically important in this state and it is vital that the District Plans provide greater certainty on where the next 20 years of housing supply will come from and empower councils to realistically plan for the future.” “To encourage development, five to ten per cent targets for affordable housing in the draft District Plans must be incentives rather than disincentives to increasing supply by ensuring they operate as an FSR and height bonus and are not imposed on currently ‘under-zoned’ land,” Ms Fitzgerald said. “Our growing population needs places to work in emerging centres, particularly in our West and South West, and Sydney needs to stay economically competitive – strategically critical employment and urban services land needs to be protected without restricting the rezoning of land that has now lost its value as industrial land. “To ensure emerging centres are commercially viable, but also liveable, a custom, flexible approach should be adopted to planning for emerging Strategic Centres that considers the unique demographics and stage of development of each centre. “The Property Council is already working closely with the Greater Sydney Commission on the District Plans and will continue to do so in the months ahead – we look forward to continuing the conversation.” Property Council submissions in response to the Greater Sydney Commission’s District Plans can be found here.Media contact: William Power| M 0429 210 982 | E [email protected]