Following today’s revelations that the Government has mapped all of the Inner West local government area for development up to six storeys, the Opposition is calling on the Government to make its mapping of the Low and Mid-Rise SEPP public, so the community can be fully informed about the Government’s intended changes to local communities in the biggest rezoning in Australia’s history.
Leader of the Opposition Mark Speakman said it’s clear that Labor’s approach to housing isn’t working.
“The Minns Labor Government planning reforms are falling apart because they arrogantly dumped important consultation with local councils and communities. To ensure full transparency, the Government should immediately release mapping prepared by the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure which shows the impact of these changes and the Department’s definition of ‘well located areas’,” said Mr Speakman.
“In Budget Estimates last week, the Government conceded that they had done the mapping, and we’ve seen it referred to in their own briefing documents, but they refuse to share it with the people of NSW.”
“While we know from these internal briefings to the Minister that the entire Inner West is mapped for six-storey apartments; it begs the question of what impact Labor’s one-size-fits-all planning policy has on other communities across the State.”
Shadow Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Scott Farlow said that under-pressure Planning Minister Paul Scully continues to show a concerning lack of understanding of the impacts of the Minns Labor Government’s “one-size-fits-all” approach by claiming his own briefing documents are “misleading, fanciful and designed to scaremonger”.
“It’s ludicrous that the Planning Minister is now calling briefings prepared by his own department ‘misleading’. Chris Minns and Paul Scully should release the mapping of the Low and Mid-Rise SEPP so the community is fully informed about what the Government knows,” Mr Farlow said.
“To address the housing crisis, the Liberals and Nationals believe in working with local communities to set housing targets, allowing communities to formulate their local controls and, if they refuse to do so within appropriate strict time limits, to impose state planning controls – not at the beginning,” said Mr Farlow.