UDIA NSW

Homes in Western Sydney’s two growth centres will be delivered to market faster and at more affordable prices under a new growth plan, the development industry says.

Today’s announcement of the Sydney Growth Centres Strategic Assessment Program also means the community and developers can have more certainty about the future of sustainable housing supply and environmental protection in Sydney’s future suburbs, the Urban Development Institute of Australia NSW says. » More details

A review of NSW strata laws is a "monumental" step towards getting the state’s urban housing supply right, the development industry says. The Urban Development Institute of Australia NSW says the review should include the regeneration of housing in key urban centres as a major focus.

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The developer of the first township for the Hunter region in 50 years has had a major court win which has ramifications across the industry for those who negotiate Voluntary Planning Agreements. The $1.5 billion Huntlee New Town proposed by LWP Property Group has been the subject of two previous court actions by protest group opposed to the proposal for the Hunter. On Thursday, the Court of Appeal overturned a decision of the NSW Land and Environment Court earlier this year that declared invalid the Major Development SEPP amendment that had effectively rezoned the Huntlee land. A key part of this week's Court of Appeal judgment is that Huntlee's developer was not required to provide an up-front bank guarantee for financial contributions, under Huntlee's Voluntary Planning Agreement. » More details

The authors of the NSW Planning Review Issues Paper have done a thorough job in their consultation process and are posing the right questions about the way forward for development in NSW, says UDIA NSW. The Issues Paper includes more than 240 questions the authors are asking for further submissions on, including the key question of how to create a framework that ensures more effective cooperation between councils, government agencies, the community and developers. The Issues Paper features questions about plan making, consultation during the plan-making stage, simplification of the development assessment process, the use of new technologies to aid efficiency and transparency, and the periodic review and evaluation of plans. » More details