Planning reform needed today to house 10.5 million people tomorrow

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Planning reform needed today, to house 10.5 million people tomorrow

The NSW Government will be required to keep their foot on the pedal of their planning reform agenda if the 40-year population, job and fiscal forecasts of the NSW Government’s Intergenerational Report are to be met, the Property Council of Australia said today.

“While today’s report gives us reason to be optimistic about the future, we must adapt our planning system, infrastructure spend and tax framework to make it work,” the Property Council’s NSW Executive Director Jane Fitzgerald said today.

“If our planning system doesn’t evolve to meet the need for additional growth, we will struggle to unlock the housing supply needed accommodate a state population of 10.5 million by 2061.

“The Productivity Commissioner’s White Paper published last week outlined a potential $5 billion economic uplift from planning reform if their recommendations are adopted by 2025. For NSW to reach its future potential, this five-year timeline needs to be fast tracked.

“Current and future governments will need to move every lever of public policy into alignment to deliver the 1.7 million additional homes required over the next 40 years – the option of inefficient and costly taxation, a planning system that still needs major surgery and a 20th century infrastructure roadmap simply will not get it done.

“The introduction of COVID to our economic mix has focused the attention of government on enabling future growth like never before, but we can’t let short-term migration and growth figures muddy the long-term future reality. Our state GDP needs to double, our growth needs to be productive, and our planning system needs to be future-focused and adaptive.

“If we don’t deliver housing and jobs in line with the what’s on our horizon, housing will be less available, affordability will worsen, and the remoteness of communities to employment will be exacerbated, placing strain on our existing infrastructure and way of life.

“New South Wales has come a long, long way in the last 40 years, and we must use the glimpse of the next 40 to motivate us all to work toward that bigger picture.”

Media contact:  Lauren Conceicao | M 0499 774 356 | E  [email protected]