Plans to rezone pockets of Sydney’s inner west to deliver thousands of homes are facing intense backlash from residents protesting changes that would enable 20-storey unit blocks in Lilyfield.
The Inner West Council in September voted to seek public feedback on the second stage of its Fairer Future rezoning scheme to increase housing density. The Labor-dominated council last year adopted the first stage of the plan to deliver more than 30,000 sorely needed new dwellings across the area.
The council decided to devise its own plan to spread housing across the local government area, having rejected the Minns government’s policies to rezone land within 800 metres of dozens of train stations and public transport hubs for more apartment blocks and low- to mid-rise developments.
Lilyfield resident Lucy Wynter is among opponents who say they were “in shock” when they learnt of the plans to rezone the suburb after the six-week exhibition period started on September 15.
“None of us are anti-affordable housing, we’re just anti-bad planning. We’re not trying to prosecute an argument around affordability, or feasibility …We just think this is spectacularly badly planned.”
The NSW government has attracted criticism from residents and councils in established suburbs, including Mosman and Woollahra, as it attempts to deliver thousands more homes to ease Sydney’s acute shortage of affordable housing.
Stage one of the council’s scheme proposed taller buildings of mostly six to 11 storeys, with some up to 22 storeys, around Marrickville, Dulwich Hill, Croydon and Ashfield stations, as well as light rail stops and shops to protect heritage precincts and more evenly distribute high-density housing.
Stage two has investigated more sites, mostly in the north of the council area and around light rail stops and main streets, in Ashfield, Dulwich Hill, Marrickville, Rozelle and Balmain, as well as parts of Annandale, Leichhardt, Lilyfield, Lewisham, Petersham, Stanmore, Newtown and St Peters.
The rezoning scheme proposes buildings up to 20 storeys on several sites in Lilyfield, some of which are public housing properties, that are close to the Lilyfield and Leichhardt North light rail stops.
Mayor Darcy Byrne this week told residents the council would revisit plans for 20-storey blocks in Lilyfield, which he conceded would be “OTT” (over-the-top) and “out of whack”.
Wynter, from the No High Rises in Lilyfield group, said residents were overwhelmed at having to read through the council’s 956-page proposal before the exhibition period ended on October 28.
She said a WhatsApp group protesting the changes had attracted 675 members within a few weeks, and the group had raised $10,000 to fund their own independent report on the scheme. Wynter said the scale of development was unnecessary and not well-supported by transport infrastructure.
“Stage two has already exceeded the state government’s housing target by 2200 dwellings, so the strategic need has not been demonstrated to make such radical change in our suburb.”
Pro-housing group Sydney YIMBY supported the proposal to rezone for more mid-rise apartments in parts of Lilyfield, Stanmore, Leichhardt, Annandale, Petersham and Croydon. The group said the plan was “getting a fair bit of pushback from the usual crew opposed to change”.
“These suburbs have seen very little housing growth this century and are becoming increasingly unaffordable because of that, so we think this is a good plan.”
Wynter was among hundreds of residents who rallied outside the council’s meeting on Tuesday.
Greens councillor Liz Atkins urged colleagues on council to delay a decision on the matter until the end of February, and extend the exhibition period.
“We’ve received hundreds of emails from the community either telling us they don’t want Fairer Future part two, or that they want more time to consider the detail,” Atkins said.
Arguing against the delay, Byrne said the council plan was an alternative to the state government’s “top-down rezonings”. “Our plans essentially protect almost all the heritage conservation zones, and their plans protect almost none,” he said.
A motion to extend the exhibition period beyond October 28, which was supported by Greens, Liberal and independent councillors, was voted down 8-7 by the Labor majority voting bloc.
Byrne said he had responded to hundreds of Lilyfield residents who had voiced concerns about the scale of development that the council’s independent architectural experts had proposed on some sites.
“I think what they have proposed is totally out of whack, and should not be supported,” Byrne said.
“We intend to seek advice from council officers about how they can be very significantly amended, both in terms of the areas that were under consideration for rezoning, and the scale.
“That includes in the public housing estates, which we do want to increase, but they can’t be 20 storeys. That’s OTT.”
However, Byrne said those changes “can be done in December. It doesn’t require residents to have another three months of uncertainty.”
Balmain Greens MP Kobi Shetty, whose home is within an area to be rezoned, said residents were concerned the scheme was being rushed through without considering infrastructure requirements.
“The proposal for mid- or high-rise apartments on what are currently predominantly single-storey streets is wildly inappropriate,” Shetty said.
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