UDIA NSW

UDIA NSW was pleased to offer members one of the first opportunities to hear from The Hon. Tony Kelly, Minister for Planning, at a sold-out luncheon last week. In his speech, the Minister outlined the work currently being undertaken in improving this state’s planning system, and addressed issues of land supply, urban infill and housing affordability. 

UDIA NSW will be meeting with the Minister again soon to discuss strata reform, the Government’s land supply figures, and other issues affecting the industry.  For a copy of the Minister’s speech and presentation, click on ‘more details’.

The NSW Opposition has announced that it will establish an independently chaired body called Infrastructure NSW to improve the identification, prioritisation and delivery of critical public infrastructure across NSW.  The new body will be established to ensure the timely delivery of roads, rail, hospitals, ports and other necessary upgrades for NSW, according to need, and on budget.

Infrastructure NSW will develop a 20 year strategy detailing major infrastructure projects costing over $100 million, and a detailed and costed five year Infrastructure Plan to underpin the 20 year strategy. A system of State Infrastructure Strategy
Statements (SISS) will also be developed across key infrastructure sectors, setting out clear analysis of long-term requirements and a transparent road map for infrastructure projects in that sector.

Click more details for a copy of the report.

The Department of Planning has released the NSW Local Development Performance Monitoring report, which provides comprehensive statistics about development in NSW, including annual information on the volume, value and type of development and council processing times.  The Report reveals that 74 days on average were taken to process a DA across all councils – the same figure as last year and a concern, given there were was a 13% reduction in the number of DAs processed.

The Report also revealed that complying development certificates represented 11% of all determinations – the same figure as last year.  This suggests that the introduction of the Complying Development Code is yet to impact significantly on the planning system.

For a copy of the report, click on more details.

As a part of the Metropolitan Transport Plan, it was announced that a new Sydney Metropolitan Development Authority will be established that will work across State agencies, local government and the private sector with the aim of delivering new housing, infrastructure and investment in key centres and corridors.

The Sydney Metropolitan Development Authority will:

• Be responsible for delivering against the actions of the consolidated Metropolitan Plan;
• Define and recommend areas that will benefit from renewal;
• Where appropriate act as a development proponent on State-owned land (identified and vested in the development authority) to expedite development and provide local economic benefits;
• Apply new transport-oriented development and rapid re-zoning tools recently approved by government to drive urban renewal, new housing, employment land and transport infrastructure. In this capacity, the authority will partner with councils as the Department of Planning does in growth centres;
• Consider options for funding, including value uplift and private sector investment in urban renewal areas;
• Attract private sector investment in urban renewal areas; and
• Be answerable to the Ministers for Planning and Transport and Roads and work across agencies to deliver infrastructure to support urban renewal.

The NSW Government has released the Metropolitan Transport Plan: Connecting the City of Cities – a 25 year strategy for land use planning for Sydney and a fully funded 10 year transport infrastructure package to support it.  For the Full Plan click more details. 

The Plan includes:

• Stopping work on the CBD Metro;
• The reinstatement of the North West Rail Link;
• The construction of a City Relief rail line to increase capacity for Western Sydney services;
• A $500 million expansion of the light rail network;
• A $21.9 billion road program;
• A $2.9 billion investment in new busses and strategic bus corridors; and
• The creation of a Metropolitan Development Authority to coordinate land use and transport in key strategic centres and to implement the revised Metro Strategy.

The release of the Transport Plan will be accompanied by a formal review of the Metro Strategy.

The Government will accept submissions on the Transport Plan until 30 April 2010.

The NSW Department of Planning is preparing an Urban Renewal State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) to consolidate and streamline the rezoning process for areas that are defined as urban renewal precincts.  It is planned that the Urban Renewal SEPP will:

• streamline the rezoning approach for designated precincts where there is urban renewal opportunity associated with public transport;
• promote mixed use and appropriate higher intensity uses within walking distance of public transport infrastructure;
• achieve a sustainable centre structure and built form via consistency with an adopted precinct plan prepared using urban design guidelines;
• be simple, rapid and able to deliver land use certainty.

The Government has acknowledged that even with improved planning controls, legislative reform may be required to allow the Government to amalgamate sites in defined urban renewal precincts by;

• reducing the majority of strata title holders required to enable strata redevelopment within defined urban renewal precincts;
• enabling compulsory acquisition of property covered by an adopted urban renewal precinct plan in situations where achieving an urban renewal outcome is at risk - even where the property may be onsold for private development. 

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If you are directly involved in the property development sector, a supplier or even a public sector agency that deals with the development industry – these courses will provide you with comprehensive and practical knowledge that will boost your career or provide you with a business edge.