The Peninsula Chamber of Commerce has welcomed a State Government move to overhaul zoning laws to facilitate new housing, particularly around major transport nodes.
“This is great news and comes in response to the Chamber’s recent calls for an overhaul of the NSW Planning system,” Chamber President Matthew Wales said.
“We strongly support the overhaul of the Council zoning laws to allow dual occupancy developments and medium density housing across NSW rather than continued expansion of greenfield development.
“Whilst we welcome the fast-tracking of mid-rise residential flat buildings, terraces, townhouses and dual occupancy, this can only come with streamlining the approvals process so that applications are not held up for months at a time.
“The Chamber also welcomes the Labor Government’s pledge to fund infrastructure and cut red tape which further delays housing approvals.
“This announcement has important implications for the Woy Woy town centre where the State Government wants apartment buildings around transport hubs and town centres in R2 low-density residential zones.
“We are now encouraging Council to accelerate the Place Plan process for Woy Woy and quickly move forward with the review of the planning and development guidelines for the town centre that have been promised for years.”
Wales said it was also good news that the Government would amend the State environmental planning policy to enact the changes and take the decision-making out of the hands of local councils.
“The Government is absolutely right; we can’t keep building out,” he said.
“The industry needs to focus on infill development with more diverse types of homes.
“It is common sense in that town centres such as Woy Woy have the capacity to take more density if it is done well.
“These locations already have the infrastructure and the services.”