Interview with NSW Minister for Planning, the Hon Anthony Robert MP

Full transcript

 

What are the three top priorities that, as Minister for Planning, you want to achieve by the next election?

Housing affordability, supply and choice

The NSW Government is committed to making housing affordable because people want to live in their own homes near their families, near where they work and near good schools, services and amenities.

Housing our essential workers such as police, teachers, nurses, ambulance and fire officers, cleaners and child carers matters. It’s important that those who service our community live near their jobs and families, and not just where they can afford.

Sydney has a strong economy and the booming job market puts pressure on house prices. Fewer people leave Sydney and more people are moving in from interstate.

The government will continue to work with industry, local councils and their communities on ways to make owning a home closer to every person’s reality.

There is a record $22 billion pipeline of residential construction underway, or 78,400 homes, this is more than double any other time in the state’s history.

Also, 72,445 new homes were approved in 2016, the highest ever approved in a single calendar year.

Sydney now has the highest amount of released and rezoned greenfield stock since land-release programs began in the early 1980s.

There is enough zoned and serviced greenfield land to support more than 80,000 new homes in greater Sydney, and a further 80,000 could be built when the infrastructure such as roads and water is available.

Riverstone East will provide 5,300 homes, Edmondson Park 7,0 homes, East Road will provide 3,000 homes and Macquarie University and North Ryde will provide 8,800 homes. 

The NSW Government’s ongoing efforts to reform the planning system will help in delivering the 725,000 new homes forecast to be required by 2036 to house an extra 1.7 million residents.

Currently, most new housing in NSW falls into two categories – traditional free-standing homes or strata-titled apartments. What is missing are the low-rise, medium sized homes, like terraces, dual occupancies and townhouses.

We’re developing a Medium Density Design Guide and a Medium Density Housing Code. Both of these documents have been developed for low-rise medium density housing types to be assessed as ‘complying development’ – a fast-track assessment process for development consistent with existing council zoning.

Terrace houses are more affordable because they require less land area; they are more sustainable because they share common walls which provide better noise and energy insulation; and they provide private outdoor spaces for families.

 

Creating a simpler and faster planning system:

I believe it is essential to look at all the ways the NSW Government can cut red tape when it comes to the planning system, to deliver homes and other developments to the community faster and easier.

The Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment Bill was released on 10 January 2017 to update the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 and create a simpler and faster planning system.

We’ll be achieving this through land releases, faster housing approvals, cutting red tape, medium density houses, rezoning, and funding for local infrastructure such as roads and schools.

Complying development is a fast-tracked approval pathway with approvals being issued within an average of 22 days, compared to 71 days for a DA. Increasing the number of developments that can be approved under the complying development pathway promotes faster housing approvals.

The Department is building a new digital planning system, the NSW Planning Portal. Online lodgement of development applications will soon be possible via the portal, further speeding up processing timeframes and saving applicants time and money.

 

Delivering regional plans:

In 2016, the projected population of regional NSW is estimated to be just over three million people, which equates to 40 per cent of the state’s population.

Regional NSW also contributes around $138 billion to the Gross State Product, which is almost one-third of the total.

Since late last year, the NSW Government has been rolling out a series of strategic regional plans to provide for a sustainable future for our regions over the next 20 years.

The plans aim to make regional communities even more attractive places to live, work and visit. Ecologically sustainable development and a strong diversified economy are the cornerstones of the plans.

The New England North West Regional Plan is on exhibition until 20 March and the Far West Regional Plan is on exhibition until 13 March.

 

What do you see as the industry’s role in moulding key planning reforms and initiatives such as medium density code assessment?

NSW requires more housing to meet the needs of our diverse and growing population. Our state is projected to grow by more than 100,000 people every year until 2036, and we’ll need to provide homes for an additional 2.1 million people. Sydney alone will need 664,000 new homes over the next 20 years to keep pace with demand.

Streamlining the approval process for more forms of residential development contributes to housing affordability, by reducing the time it takes to build a house, and minimising the costs involved for homeowners and industry.

There are significant cost savings when carrying out complying development compared to a DA – a cost benefit analysis by the Centre for International Economics (CIE) in 2015 found that there are savings of up to $15,000 for dual occupancies if approved under complying development instead of a DA.

Taking on board the feedback received, including from industry stakeholders, in late 2016, the Department of Planning and Environment released the Draft Medium Density Design Guide along with an Explanation of Intended Effect for a proposed new Medium Density Housing Code for public exhibition.

The Department held a series of targeted workshops with industry and councils, including the Property Council, to inform the draft Design Guide and proposed new Code prior to exhibition.

The draft Design Guide and proposed Code have been prepared to promote low-rise homes like dual occupancies and manor homes to provide alternative housing choices to traditional free-standing homes or strata-titled apartments. The draft Code establishes proposed mandatory development standards such as building heights, setbacks, landscaping and other building standards to maintain local character and residential amenity.

 

The Draft District Plans were released by the Greater Sydney Commission in November last year, what do you see as some of the challenges that strategic planning must address in NSW?

The top three challenges for the Greater Sydney Commission (GSC) are housing; integrating transport, infrastructure and land use planning; and protecting and enhancing the environment while Sydney grows.

The GSC will be focused on progressing actions from the draft district plans, which not only look at supply but innovation in providing affordable housing options.

Second is ensuring that there is an integrated approach to transport, infrastructure and land use planning. The Commission was established as an independent agency to provide advice and assistance to NSW Government on the infrastructure required to support housing and employment opportunities in the Greater Sydney Region.

The third key challenge is providing strategic planning for a sustainable and liveable Greater Sydney that not only looks at the built environment but also seeks to protect the natural environment. A sustainable city protects and enhances its natural environment; its bushland, open spaces, waterways and vegetation and the planning challenge is how we integrate sustainability into the growth of this city we love.

 

What do you see as the first steps that NSW needs to take to address housing affordability?

The NSW Government has already taken the first steps and it is my intention to follow through to address housing affordability by working closely with councils, government agencies, the community and the private sector to deliver housing where it is needed.

Housing supply is a key element and we are addressing this by:

• Releasing and rezoning more land than ever before
• Rebuilding existing suburbs to take advantage of our unprecedented investment in transport infrastructure
• Creating a simpler, more efficient planning system
• Improving housing choice by making it easier to deliver medium density homes such as terraces and town houses
• Delivering critical infrastructure through the Housing Acceleration Fund

 

We are also undertaking work to explore, facilitate and promote a range of housing types, including:

• Increasing affordable housing by proving councils with the capacity to create affordable housing schemes
• Streamlining the delivery of low-rise, medium density homes by expanding complying development rules and supporting development with a new design guide
• Exploring the feasibility of ‘build to rent’ on government owned land
• Promoting affordable housing and boarding houses in existing suburbs by providing design guidelines and updated standards
• Allowing seniors to live in well located, higher density locations
• Supporting the delivery of the NDIS by allowing a change of use from a residential home to a group home as complying development and providing contributions relief for specialist disability providers under the NDIS.

The draft District Plans, open for comment, look to facilitate the supply of affordable rental housing for very low and low income earners, with particular focus on people exiting from social housing.

 

There are a lot of balls in the air at the moment in terms of the NSW planning system – planning reforms, District Plans, reforms to the way VPAs are used- what experience have you acquired from previous roles that will assist you to tackle these issues and the planning/housing portfolio?

I believe my life experiences and diverse previous roles have given me the equipment necessary to take on tough tasks and achieve positive outcomes.

Serving nine years in the Australian Army Reserve which included deployment to Bougainville as part of Operation Bel Isi taught me many things, including working in cooperation with others to achieve the desired outcome.

Having served two terms as a councillor, including two years as Mayor of Lane Cove, has taught me community service. Now the community I look after are the people of NSW.  

I was also an adviser to Prime Minister John Howard.

In the NSW Parliament, I served in several Shadow Portfolios, including Emergency Services, Juvenile Justice, Citizenship, Volunteering and the Arts.

Following the Coalition victory in the March 2011 election, I was appointed Minister for Fair Trading in the O’Farrell Government immediately embarking on a wide-ranging Fair Trading reform agenda including:

Reforming the State’s fifty-year-old strata and community title laws, the home building sector, the retirement village industry, the motor vehicle industry, and the residential land lease communities sector.

I successfully implemented legislation to prohibit the sale, manufacture and possession of synthetic drugs, was responsible for introducing new measures to reduce the number of children falling from apartment windows, developed new laws to address the issue of ticket scalping for major events in NSW and laws to license tattoo parlours.

On 9 December 2013 I was appointed Minister for Resources and Energy, and Special Minister of State. On 23 April 2014 Premier Mike Baird added the role of Leader of the House in the NSW Legislative Assembly, on top of my existing portfolios. 

As Leader of the House, I am responsible for the Government’s legislative agenda.

In my role as Resources and Energy Minister, I embarked on a series of energy market reforms, including deregulating electricity prices, announcing a market-led rollout of smart electricity meters and ending gold-plating of the electricity networks.  In the resources sector I delivered the landmark NSW Gas Plan, facilitated the signing of an historic agreement on land access between gas producers and landholders, and commenced the first NSW Minerals Industry Action Plan.

Following the re-election of the Baird Government in March 2015, I became Minister for Industry, Resources and Energy, tasked with running the newly-created super-department of Industry, Regional Development and Skills, and leading the Government’s commitment of creating 1,000 new jobs over the next four years.

Now, Premier Gladys Berejiklian has honoured me with the portfolio of Planning, Housing and Special Minister of State as well as retaining Leader of the House.

The Premier has made housing affordability a priority for the NSW Government and I am privileged to take on this portfolio.

My entire work history has been one of resolving problems and juggling many balls.

As a husband and father of three young sons, I have also learned to juggle an active family life.

I have no doubt my experiences and previous roles have stood me in good stead for the upcoming challenges of my current portfolio, which I will tackle with vigour and with the best interests of the people of NSW in mind.

People should be able to live where they want – near their families, near their work.

With the support of the Department of Planning and Environment I will be looking into how to alleviate the burden of housing affordability in this state and doing something about it.