Growth is the wrong political football

Home Media Releases Growth is the wrong political football

Growth is the wrong political football

The political tit for tat over Sydney’s growth is not a helpful way to find sustainable solutions for meeting the needs of our growing population according to the Property Council of Australia.

The washup of the local government elections has seen a series of sound bites on ‘over-development’, yet the complexities of our city’s growth is yet to be heard.

“Sydney will continue to grow and there are challenges that come with this growth, but using it as a political football will not enable the conversation about our growth to constructively move forward,” Property Council NSW Executive Director Jane Fitzgerald said today.

“We know that many of our suburbs are already experiencing the effects of growth with more people living in apartments across our city, sharing more, moving differently and reassessing what it means to live in a global city.

“Growth and density are issues that are of great interest and perhaps concern to the community and it’s a lifestyle the data shows we are already experiencing, yet the current conversation will not produce better outcomes for the community.

“We need a rigorous and solutions-focused conversation about the effects of growth in our city and what our community wants from this growth, rather than what they don’t want.

“Reducing the issue to convenient sound bites is a failure of political leadership that will not move this conversation forward, but rather constrain our ability to look for new approaches that will address people’s concerns over growth while still meeting the needs of a growing population.

“A growing number of people will need homes, schools, hospitals, transport options and recreational spaces – it is up to our elected officials to manage this change and the bumps that may occur along the way and bring the community along for the journey.

“We must not get caught in a polarising debate but rather work together to find solutions that provide our community with equitable growth, sustainable housing, a greater number of jobs and better ways of connecting.”