Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne
Inner West Council has released its latest response to the NSW Government’s ambitious housing agenda for community feedback.
Last night, Council resolved to put the draft of Our Fairer Future Plan Stage 2 on public exhibition for community and councillor feedback.
The NSW Government is requiring all councils to deliver more housing. However, the government’s policy has resulted in top-down rezonings across the whole that fail to consider the unique character, heritage and amenity of different areas. That’s why we have fought hard to force the government to agree to rescind these rezonings, in return for us submitting our own housing plan.
Now, Council has unveiled an expert-led alternative to deliver thousands of much-needed new homes across the Inner West while protecting what makes the Inner West special.
It follows Our Fairer Future Plan Stage 1 which was adopted by Council last year and examined delivering new housing mainly in the southern parts of the LGA, especially around train and metro stations. This second stage finishes the task, by focusing on areas that weren’t considered in the first, largely in the northern section of the Inner West and particularly around light rail stops and main streets.
As homes get more expensive, parts of our community are at risk of being pushed out. We want to ensure our neighbourhoods can continue to welcome renters, young people, essential workers, families, migrant communities, creatives, small businesses and more.
Drafted by independent planning and architectural experts, Our Fairer Future Stage 2 takes a block-by-block analysis of suburbs including parts of Annandale, Ashfield, Balmain, Dulwich Hill, Croydon, Enmore, Leichhardt, Lewisham, Lilyfield, Marrickville, Newtown, Petersham, Stanmore, St Peters and Rozelle.
Council believes this approach will provide a fairer outcome for the community than the NSW Government's rezonings. It reflects Council's commitment to spread density across the whole Inner West, rather than delivering it exclusively around major transport hubs which would've unfairly concentrated it in the South.
It also better protects the heritage conservation areas which are all impacted by the state government's proposal.
The proposal centres around delivering a mix of apartments, houses and affordable housing, and ensuring new housing is matched with the service and facilities the community needs.
That’s why we’ve:
- Developed a new Affordable Housing Policy with clear targets that ensures more affordable homes are delivered right across the Inner West.
- Released Better Connecting the Inner West (PDF, 1.72MB), a vision for public transport upgrades needed to support more housing, including rapid transit on Parramatta Road, better buses, trains and light rail services, new cycleways and more.
- Launched Building Our Community, a long-term plan to deliver the open space, community facilities and infrastructure needed to support population growth.
- Are working with churches and faith-based charities to redevelop their lands for housing with a requirement that 30% of all homes are social housing.
The draft plan is the start of a community conversation. Our Fairer Future Plan Stage 2 is now open for community feedback. Visit Your Say Inner West for more information.