Byrne outlined a series of amendments to the proposal, which included converting five council carparks to accommodate a potential 350 new social housing dwellings, and to replicate a City of Sydney scheme which will mean all residential developments on private land in the rezoned areas must include 2 to 3 per cent affordable housing, with a 20 per cent contribution required for private developers allowed to build bigger developments.
The council will also allow churches and faith-based charities to redevelop their land with residences so long as the projects comprise 30 per cent social housing.
Shops along Marrickville Road, Dulwich Hill, which is in line for more housing.Credit: Wolter Peeters
Greens councillor Izabella Antoniou urged the council to go back to the drawing board to better consider the rules around social and affordable housing, and the impact of increased density on the area’s infrastructure.
“Currently, people do not trust us to actually deliver this uplift in density. More needs to be done to make sure we’re actually delivering for current and future residents so we can rebuild trust we have unfortunately broken,” she said.
Antoniou said debate on the council’s proposal had been “purposefully divisive”, and opponents were “a broad church – young, old, renters, owners, people inside the Labor Party”.
“The NIMBY-YIMBY divide is very convenient because it flattens the issue, gags opposition, and obscures the details of what’s actually going on.”
Councillors on Tuesday voted to endorse the council’s alternative plan to a state-led rezoning.Credit: Max Mason-Hubers
Antoniou was among several councillors who unsuccessfully attempted to have the matter deferred.
Labor councillor Liz Clay felt a responsibility to support the plan as she was “privileged to have a home the inner west”.
“It would be a disservice to those in need now, and future generations, to deny them the same opportunity.”
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Earlier on Tuesday, Premier Chris Minns was asked whether the number of supporters who had spoken at the council’s forum on the rezoning signalled a shift in Sydneysiders’ attitudes towards residential development.
“I hope so, but my suspicion is we’re all on probation, and there’s definitely a willingness to see new housing, but they want to see it done right,” Minns told a conference run by the HousingNow! lobby group.
“They want to see the amenity that comes with it. They want to see the public transport. They want to see the infrastructure. This is still an arm wrestle.”
Housing Minister Rose Jackson, also at the conference, criticised “so-called progressives” who made “spurious objections” to housing developments or broader plans for not including enough social and affordable housing.
“It really frustrates me when people weaponise this incredibly important work against new housing delivery.”
Dozens of protesters and supporters attended a fiery public forum on the rezoning last week, when nearly half of the 80 speakers had voiced support for the plan.
Local opponent Margo Cashman, of Dulwich Hill, said the public forum was “nothing short of disgraceful”, and lashed the council for “locked-out residents, stacked speaker lists, a forum designed for show not substance”.
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