The South Kiama Urban Release Area is one of the sites pitched for significant housing growth. Photo: Keeli Dyson.
A contentious strategy which will shape the future of housing in Kiama has been endorsed by the town’s council, with the local representatives fearing a lack of action now could see them left out of decisions about the region’s growth in the future and result in ‘unplanned, poorly serviced sprawl’.
The Kiama Local Housing Strategy will provide the framework for future development in the coastal town with strategically identified land, rezoning opportunities and green spaces providing the potential for projects that would deliver thousands of new dwellings to the area.
The plan had returned to council after public exhibition through which hundreds of people from the Kiama community provided feedback and voiced their concerns.
“I understand that there was a strong view expressed by the community that said ‘yes’ to a housing strategy, but not this one,” Cr Stuart Larkins said at the start of the 90-minute debate.
“I believe the risks of not supporting a housing strategy and delaying one will pose significantly more risks for our community in the medium and long term.
“If we flat out say no to this strategy, it will likely be two to three years until we see a new draft strategy.”
The extensive document outlines that existing zoned land in the local government area has the capacity to supply 2341 more dwellings and sets a goal to build 900 houses by 2029.
Community members like Alan Woodward from Kiama Matters had urged councillors to take longer to rework the strategy to ensure that it set controls and targets on things such as dwelling types, affordability and constraints in certain areas.
“In short it could allow us to simply have a whole lot more four-bedroom homes that are in the same price range as what’s currently on the market for those dwellings and no real address of the stress that’s facing people in terms of housing affordability or location or type,” he said.
“It could result in a profound loss of character, amenity and livability and it could result in real impacts around the environmental areas in particular sensitive areas including around the Spring catchment.”
He also requested ‘more intensive and deliberate input from the community’, but when Councillor Melinda Lawton proposed an amendment that a community advisory panel be integrated into the motion, it was voted down by other councillors.
“This is something that our community is going to wear for the next 40 or 50 years,” Councillor Melinda Matters said. “It would be a dreadful decision not to embrace the experience we have in our community for our draft housing strategy.”
“I think there is a lot of merit in this but we need to take a breath,” Councillor Matt Brown said.
“We shouldn’t be doing policy on the run.”
It was suggested the idea be raised at a later meeting as an individual notice of motion.
The local housing plan identified four greenfield sites for large scale urban development, and included 10 non-negotiable principles.
These included: a need for appropriate road, pedestrian and public transport networks and connections, all required services were planned for including sewer and water, a mix of land controls to ensure a diversity of housing types, areas with heritage value or high environment significance were protected and provisions for social and affordable housing were adequately considered.
“When you start bringing in those non-negotiables the amount of developable land, or the land that’s going to be residential shrinks down,” Planning, Environment and Communities Director Ed Paterson said.
“This document allows us to work with state agencies to identify the infrastructure that’s required.”
Councillors voted to include some extra boundaries to create a more cohesive plan for the area and the motion was changed despite Cr Lawton’s objections.
“I am rather perplexed as to why we can actually change the draft housing document with popping in lands, popping out lands,” she said. “It seems a little odd to me when we’ve been asked to consistently go to the community with the proposed and now we’re on a whim we’re suggesting that without having any mapping, without having any real understanding of what we’re voting on.”
Many councillors expressed positive and negative reactions to the plan, but ultimately the motion passed.
“The reality is that growth is coming whether we plan for it or not,” Councillor Mike Cains said.
“If we don’t decide to put a strategy in place, we’re going to lose grip, we’re going to lose the ability to shape that growth in a way that delivers the best outcomes for our community, and that’s what concerns me.
“We can’t risk unplanned, poorly serviced sprawl. We must take our seat at the table and ensure what is built protects the values and needs of our community.”
But Cr Brown said the work had just begun.
“It’s one thing to have a few lines on the paper, it’s now our job to make sure the State Government comes good with the promises of the infrastructure that we need.
“We need to talk to land owners and developers and make sure we get that diversity of housing and it’s not a lazy subdivision.
“There’s still a lot of work to do.”
For more information on the strategy visit the Kiama Council website.
