‘It’s open slather for developers’: Woollahra Council wants no net dwelling losses for new housing projects

By ROBBIE MASON

Woollahra Council has decided to explore the possibility of introducing planning controls to prevent a net reduction in dwellings for any new housing development following heated debate at their monthly meeting last night.

Councillor Lucinda Regan, who put the notice of motion forward, told the traditionally-conservative council that discussions and outcomes at a recent local planning panel meeting had inspired the proposal. Two weeks ago, the panel approved the demolition of eight one-bedroom affordable units at 54 Streatfield Road, Bellevue Hill, despite outcry from long-term tenants who live at the address. Three three-bedroom luxury apartments and a swimming pool will be built on the site instead.

Cr Regan told City Hub, “many older style unit blocks (like art deco buildings) that were built years ago currently provide affordable housing; mainly in the form of affordable rental accommodation… Some of these residential apartments are being knocked down and rebuilt as larger luxury units.”

The motion passed but it received a hostile reaction from certain councillors. Four Liberal councillors voted against the motion.

Councillor Toni Zeltzer, who voted against the proposal, argued that the motion represents overbearing red tape that could force long-term residents, who want to downgrade to smaller homes, out of the area.

Claiming to speak on behalf of her elderly constituency, Cr Zeltzer stated, “we don’t want to be stuck out somewhere we don’t know”.

Councillor Richard Shields, meanwhile, suggested that choice should be left in the hands of private developers.

Greens Councillor Nicola Grieve, however, has taken a polar opposite stance.

Acknowledging the severity of the housing crisis in Sydney, Cr Grieve told City Hub, “we can’t just leave it up to the market and the developers to deliver.”

“It’s open slather for developers lining their pockets and [it’s] not actually delivering what is needed. The system is broken. It needs to be fixed. This [motion] will go some small way towards correcting that.”

“Woollahra has a very ageing population,” Cr Grieve explained. “We have a large cohort of women over 60. Their husbands have died or through divorce they basically have very few options for housing. If we keep losing older, smaller, more affordable housing, we will have a terrible situation.”

“The other end of the spectrum is the 25 to 30 year olds moving out of home. There are no more small cheap apartments for them to move into.”

Greens Councillor Matthew Roberston said, “the Greens have long campaigned against ‘facadism’ – where terrace houses are demolished all but for their front facade and a McMansion erected behind.”

“Facadism depletes housing stock and trashes heritage.”

A sea change for Woollahra Council? 

The motion caused division among the Liberal Party members present. Councillor Sarah Swan, a comparatively youthful Liberal councillor, supported the proposal, telling those present that she is “deeply concerned about the range of young professionals” who cannot afford to live in the LGA. Even friends on salaries of $200,000 per year struggle to find accommodation in the area, she stated.

First Councillor Luise Elsing, meanwhile, said at the meeting last night, “we want to live in an area where teachers and nurses can buy [homes].”

Reflecting on the opposition to the motion, Cr Regan told City Hub, “I can’t understand why there would not be support to look into this.  You cannot just build your way out of a problem if the supply delivered is not affordable.”

The local council has asked strategic planning staff to produce a report investigating opportunities to alter the Woollhara Local Environment Plan 2014 to ensure there are rules in place to prevent a net loss in dwellings for new housing developments. The council also wants to lock in an obligatory Social Impact Statement where a reduction in dwelling numbers is proposed.

Waverley Council has already pursued similar planning controls. The eastern Sydney council is in the process of finalising the details.

Expressing frustration, Cr Grieve stated, “it shouldn’t be up to local governments to go back to the state planning department to tell them what to do.”

Woollahra Council has recently come under fire for its resistance to new housing developments. The Sydney Morning Herald reported last month that Woollahra Council has only delivered 23 new affordable homes in 14 years.

Sceptics have accused the council of weaponising heritage.

But the successful motion, intended to update planning controls and boost the LGA’s housing supply, suggests a possible shift in mood in the city’s leafy eastern suburbs as the gravity of Sydney’s housing situations takes hold.