Friday, 6 March 2026

In this Edition...

1. Bays West – common sense (and housing) prevails

2. Housing Approvals dip - just when they need to start soaring

3. Planning Minister declares a further 17 housing projects as state significant

... and much, much more ...

4. First tranche of projects identified through the NSW Investment Delivery Authority
5. Council watch - Willoughby
6. Building Commission Best Practice series
7. Evolution of Five Dock and Burwood continues
8. News from DPHI
9. Members in the news

1. Bays West – common sense (and housing) prevails

A multibillion metro line a few minutes from the heart of the Sydney CBD was never going to justify the preservation of bulk storage for sugar and cement.

The Minns Government has stared down nay-sayers and committed to the redevelopment of the Bays West precinct, with plans for up to 8,500 new homes all within walking distance of the Bays West metro.

The Government’s announcement strikes a sensible balance with the retention of essential maintenance capacity to support the working harbour and solid plans to capitalise on the housing and urban renewal potential of the new metro.

At the end of the day, the decision was about the future needs of Sydney, rather than clinging to the past.

The Sydney Working Port Coalition ponders the Government’s announcement…

The rag tag Sydney Working Port Coalition has had its last hurrah, with their efforts to prevent the transformation of the broader precinct vanquished.

8,500 new homes, with up to 10% affordable housing, represents a significant contribution to housing supply.  While there is a lot more to be done, in lots of places, this is part of the “Plan B-Z” that the Urban Taskforce has been calling for since the collapse of the Rosehill Gardens deal.

The establishment of a delivery authority is a further positive move which will hopefully ensuring housing delivery is well advanced in time for the opening of the West metro in 2032. There certainly isn’t a moment to lose, and this week’s announcement should be the springboard for action.

The NSW Opposition was quick to return to cynical "oppositionism" with its call for 30% affordable housing – this from a party that delivered virtually no affordable housing in its 12 years in office and oversaw the evolution of a fully blown housing supply and affordability crisis. 

It is bizarre that after such a strong start, the new Opposition team has turned to class warfare and NIMBYism at the very first opportunity.

Opening up more housing opportunities in Bays West will have knock on effects on other housing markets, opening up more affordable housing stock. All housing supply helps with housing affordability – even expensive houses.

Is Comrade Sloane and her collective suggesting that all 5,000 of the new homes in Woollahra should be social and affordable housing? … Brave!?

Meanwhile, that sticky penny appears to have dropped at NSW Treasury, which now seems to have realised the impact that affordable housing levies have on the economic feasibility of property development, as the Government abandons its 30% commitment to affordable housing on Government-owned land.

That said, 10% affordable housing is massive compared to the minimal cash contribution required of Mirvac for the Harbourside development.

2. Housing Approvals dip - just when they need to start soaring

ABS housing approvals data for January 2026 revealed the worst national monthly result since the National Housing Accord began.

The poor results were off the back of falling approvals in the two big states of Australia NSW and Victoria.

While you can’t extrapolate too much from one month’s worth of data, the January approvals dip should serve to focus the NSW Government’s attention.

The ABS monthly approvals data is a pulse check on how the planning system is responding to the housing supply crisis, and it is clear that more needs to be done.

The latest figures should be setting off alarm bells right across Government – a view backed in Thursday’s editorial in The Daily Telegraph.

A quick improvement would be for the HDA and DPHI to stop the SSDA assessment team falling into bad old habits, with evidence they are pandering to NIMBY councils. This is exactly what they weren’t supposed to be doing.

This indulgence to obstructionist councils is creating a millstone around its neck.

Besides ignoring background noise from councils, the Government’s LMR reforms need to be broadened (as recommended by the Urban Taskforce on the day of their announcement and now the Grattan Institute). Action also needs to be taken now to eliminate the ability of local NIMBY councils to undermine the SEPP through local planning controls.

The Urban Developer picked up our caveat on not reading too much into one month’s data, it honed in on our comments around feasibility and the ongoing impact of Government fees, taxes and charges:

There is strong social licence for the Government to enact policies aimed at lifting housing supply and choice right across Sydney. Allowing councils to thwart reform wins no votes, but will ultimately hamper the Government in pointing to the fruits of their reform agenda.

The Minns Government was elected in part to lift housing supply. It must review all of its housing and planning policies and ensure there is no capacity for obstructionist councils to weaken supply where it is most needed.

There is little more than 12 months to the next State election, and the Government will rightfully be judged on how it has addressed the housing supply crisis.

This week’s approvals figures should be a wakeup call to all those responsible for facilitating housing supply in NSW.

Equally, the national picture is looking increasingly abject. A significant investment in housing enabling infrastructure is required in the May Federal budget.

3. Planning Minister declares a further 17 housing projects as state significant

In a timely announcement, the Minister for Planning, Paul Scully, declared 17 housing projects comprising 7,800 homes as state significant through the HDA planning pathway this week.

It came off the back of the HDA’s first meeting for 2026 in February.

Since the HDA pathway was established little more than 12 months ago, 325 proposals amounting to 110,000 potential homes have been declared State significant.

With the dip in housing approvals data this week, NSW needs many more of these declarations flying out of the Minister’s door!

4. First tranche of projects identified through the NSW Investment Delivery Authority

The IDA has hit the ground, endorsing 16 projects through the recently established IDA.

2 hotel projects along with 14 renewable energy projects formed the first tranche.

Urban Taskforce argued strongly to reduce the threshold for hotels, so it is pleasing to see 2 projects already endorsed through the first round of the IDA.

The first EOI round also included proposals related to data centres and technology. The Government says the evaluation of these projects is being finalised and will be announced separately, recognising the scale of the energy, water and infrastructure coordination associated with the sector.

The NSW Government is also gaining insights from the EoI process itself, concluding that many major projects are often held back by system‑wide issues, highlighting the need for a coordinated, whole‑of‑government approach to unlocking investment.

5. Council watch - Willoughby

A few months back we expressed hope that the winds of change were wafting through Willoughby Council. This week’s Council Watch shows how hard cultural change is to enact, especially with the usual suspects as councillors…

Willoughby Part 1 – New Heritage Conservation Area to thwart housing

Willoughby Council met last week and resolve to pursue the blanket rezoning of the Naremburn Civic Centre Heritage Conservation Area along with a number of individual items across the LGA.

Urban Taskforce strongly opposed the plans as they are an attempt to stifle housing potential in well-connected areas on Sydney’s north shore. The HCA was justified partially on the basis of the soon to be redundant A Metropolis of Three Cities from 2018.

Willoughby Part 2 - IPC approves well located housing despite Council’s protestations

260 BTR apartments on the doorstep of Chatswood metro. A no brainer one would have thought. Yet Willoughby Council

The IPC paid short shrift to Council’s ‘concerns’:

Willoughby Part 3 – staffing the barricades at Castlecrag

 This one has been thrust on Council, but the ironically named Castlecrag Progress Association, and the Walter Burley Griffin Society, have teamed up (although we believe there is much overlap between the 2 groups) to try to thwart a mixed-use development on Edinburgh Rd, Castlecrag, because amongst other things it is “near” a heritage conservation area!

Our architectural history division noted with further bemusement that the now demolished shopping centre featured red pitched roofs – something that Walter Burley Griffin himself, despised.

The former Quadrangle shopping centre with the red pitched roofs

With a pile on from local NIMBY’s, Council passed the motion to write to DPHI on the proposal 8 votes to one. The one vote against pointed out that the State Significant Development proposal would be subject to consultation, with the point being made that the leafy eastern ward of Willoughby could possibly do a little more in terms of delivering well located housing (the site is a 20-minute bus ride to the Sydney CBD!)

We concluded that the motion, so typical of grandstanding NIMBY types, was, in the words of Macbeth, “sound and fury, signifying nothing…”

They may have new GM, but there’s a long way to go in exacting cultural change at Willoughby Council.

6. Building Commission Best Practice series

Improving knowledge and understanding between industry and regulators is a key focus of Urban Taskforce, which is why we have arranged for a series of presentations from the NSW Building Commission on various matters pertaining to building regulation.

First cab off the rank was basements, with Jason Li, Principal Advisor – Technical Practitioner Compliance at the NSW Building Commission, presenting on the Commission's observations and insights on this most challenging part of construction.

Noting the minefield of requirements, Jason took a packed room through the various pitfalls for developers when it comes to issues like shoring and waterproofing.

Members came out knowing more about the regulatory context and how the Commission approaches these areas.

Our thanks to Jason Li from the Commission for presenting to members, as well as Thom Kwok and the team at Holding Redlich for hosting the event.

7. Evolution of Five Dock and Burwood continues

While the stretch between Broadway and Leichardt is moving painfully slowly, the transformation of the corridor between Burwood and Five Dock is beginning to take shape.

The AFR reports on One Global Capital’s finalising the consolidation of a 1.4-hectare site in Five Dock and is preparing to bring a $1.5 billion mixed-use precinct to market.

One Global Capital’s proposed development at Five Dock

Along with other key projects such as Deicorp’s urban renewal of the Kings Bay Village, and Burwood Council capitalising on the forthcoming Metro site at North Burwood, there are significant signs of change, built on the back on the Metro West, are starting to finally fall into place.

Do we dare to start to dream of a Parramatta Road worthy of Sydney in the 21^st century???

8. Planning Portal Enhancement Updates

Following consultation with stakeholders, this release from of changes to the portal includes the following enhancements to existing services:

• ‘Documents’ tab within the complying development certificate application, post-consent certificate and building information certificate services redesigned to improve the filter and sort functionality. This includes a sort by date functionality within the document table.
• Introduction of guidance text within ‘Documents’ tab of the development application and state development application services to assist users navigate functionality more easily.
• Increased the character limit for the field ‘Please provide request details’ field on the ‘Request additional information’ screen within the Section 68 of the Local Government Act service to 2000. This enables council to provide clearer and more detailed information to applicants.
• Amended the email notification sent to the applicant when a council or certifier user uploads a fee estimate document to a ‘Request for information’ within Section 68 of the Local Government Act application, complying development certificate and post consent certificate services. This helps to minimise the risk of missed or delayed fee-related information.
• Introduction of ‘Close case’ button in ‘Additional information summary’ tab on ‘Assessment’ screen within post consent certificate and complying development certificate services. This allows council and certifier users to close ‘In-Progress’ additional information requests and ensures case statuses remain accurate, and applications can be determined without delay.
• Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water (DCCEEW) user and organisation administrator can reassign Controlled activity approval applications with ‘Additional information requested’ case status. This facilitates faster and easier case management.
• Update to the email hyperlink to the ‘Bank Guarantee Security Template’ within the Controlled activity approval service.  

New functionality   has been developed to support Housing and Productivity Contributions Works in Kind credit management. This functionality will enable an Infrastructure Officer and Infrastructure Approver to manage credit records and transaction details, review and approve requests, and generate reports. Note: This functionality will be utilised by the Department initially before being made available for external users.

The 27 February release included minor fixes to address the following technical issues: 

• When a revised BASIX application is approved, ‘Local Government Area’ field on ‘Project details’ screen within the BASIX service is pre-populated.
• Final levy amount is consistent with estimated levy account within the Intention to seek occupation certificate application.
• If provided, reason entered by council user for the cancellation or withdrawal of concurrence and referral request is included within the email notification to nominated Agencies.

9. Members in the news

“… Roseville’s renewal is gaining ground with the approval of Aqualand’s 111-apartment project in the transitioning suburb … read more ...                                

The Urban Developer, March 3

“… Stockland has formalised a joint venture deal with operator EdgeConneX to develop data centres as the developer allocates up to 10 per cent of its capital to the fast-growing asset class underpinning the boom in AI … read more ...                                

AFR, 3 March

“… The tallest point of Journal Student Living’s $194 million Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PSBA) Market Way project at 100 Franklin Street in Melbourne’s CBD has been reached, with global contractor Multiplex ‘Topping Out’ the 40-level structure … read more ...                                

Australian Property Markets, 5 March

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