Late Agenda of Ordinary Meeting of Council

Ordinary Meeting of Council

TO BE HELD ON Tuesday, 16 April 2024 AT 7:00PM

Level 3, Council Chamber

Late Agenda

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NOTE: For Full Details, See Council’s Website –

www.krg.nsw.gov.au under the link to business papers

MM.1 Housing Policy Updates (April 2024) 4

File: S14450

This Mayoral Minute provides a history (for noting) on local activity regarding the State Labor Government’s proposed housing policies.

On 9^th November 2023, the Mayor received a letter from the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces hinting that in response to the National Housing Accord, there would be substantial uplift in density across NSW involving the redefinition of the housing stock that Low- and Mid-Rise Residential zones could take.

At the next Ordinary Meeting of Council on 21^st November 2023, Council resolved that the Mayor would write to the Planning Minister to outline Council’s concerns about the feasibility of what was proposed.

On 24^th November 2023, the Mayor wrote a letter to the Planning Minister requesting a meeting to discuss Council’s concerns.

On 27^th November 2023, the Minister’s office responded by saying that they are open to a meeting “to discuss broader housing targets”. That meeting was later confirmed to be 15^th February 2024, and later postponed by the minister to 29^th February 2024.

On Tuesday 28^th November 2023, the State Government released a media statement announcing upcoming reforms to low and mid-rise housing (LMRH SEPP). The details of this reform (explanation of intended effect) were not made public until 18^th December, at which point a ‘public feedback’ process was made available over the Christmas holidays and due 23^rd February 2024.

Regarding a separate ‘Transport Oriented Development’ SEPP (TOD SEPP), this was first hinted when the NSW Government accidentally published its intention to rezone 31 train stations on 5^thDecember 2023. The webpage was quickly pulled down but in the media, the parameters of 400m radius, 21m height, FSR 3:1 were rumoured for stations including Roseville, Lindfield, Killara and Gordon. Details were released in late December (see attachment 1). There was no community consultation process for the TOD SEPP.

Regarding details of the TOD SEPP, representatives from the Department of Planning met with council staff on 16^th January 2024, then followed up by a 30-minute meeting with councillors on 24^th January 2024. In these meetings there was no genuine exchange of ideas, it was merely a top-down presentation of what the State Government was going to impose on Councils across NSW. Council staff and councillors expressed their concerns, but there was no sense that concerns around the details were genuinely being heard.

On 29^th February 2024, over three months after requesting the original meeting, the Minister for Planning finally met with the Mayor and staff. Here, the Mayor’s expectation was that it was “to discuss broader housing targets”. However, at this meeting:

· The Minister was clear that he was not interested in discussing the housing targets for the LMRH SEPP, and that he was only there to talk about the TOD SEPP.

· The Minister said that if Councils were to establish a new Local Environment Plan (LEP) that met or exceeded housing targets, then the requirements of the SEPP would be set aside.

· The Mayor and council staff said that if a new LEP was to be established, the preference would be to review the entire LGA in one go. It would not be efficient to start a process for the TOD SEPP area, followed by the LMRH SEPP area a few months later. To revise the LEP for the entire LGA, housing targets for the entire LGA would be required (as was the original scope of the meeting).

· The Minister said that housing targets will not be provided for the LMRH SEPP area, and that housing targets for the TOD SEPP would be provided later in the week.

· The Minister offered the prospect of a 6-month deferred commencement for local planning at some of the TOD SEPP sites. However, he required at least one to commence April 2024 as announced.

· The Mayor and council staff said that 6 months was not a realistic timeframe for planning in line with Department guidelines and public expectation. The Mayor said that 12-18 months would be more realistic.

· The Department staff promised to provide Council staff with a copy of the draft TOD SEPP prior to its gazettal.

· The Minister and Mayor thanked each other for the productive conversation, and the Minister said that they would meet again the following week.

On 1^st March 2024, the Department contacted Council to inform that each of the four TOD SEPP locations was expected to take on 4,500-5,000 new dwellings within a 400m radius.

On the following week, and after robust discussions with Councillors at a workshop, the Mayor was looking forward to a constructive second meeting with the Minister as promised, where he hoped to further explore a 12-18 month deferred commencement. But closer to the meeting date of 8^th March 2024, he was told that he would be excluded from the meeting. Only Department staff and Council staff met on 8^th March 2024.

On the evening of 11^th April 2024, Minister Scully issued a letter to Council addressing the Department’s position on Heritage Conservation, Traffic and Local Roads, and Tree Canopy (see attachment 2).

The Department issued a statement the following day claiming that 12 out of 13 councils had collaborated on the TOD SEPP but implied that Ku-ring-gai had not (see attachments 3 and 4). Other councils had been offered deferred commencements ranging 3-15 months, which for Labor-led councils happens to defer the issue to the other side of the Local Government Elections.

From the Mayor’s perspective, the message about Ku-ring-gai not being willing to collaborate does not feel genuine. The first meeting took over three months for the Minister to commit to, and the second meeting was cancelled.

On 12^th April 2024, the Mayor issued a response to the Minister addressing weaknesses in the Department’s position regarding Heritage Conservation, Traffic and Local Roads, and Tree Canopy (see attachment 5). He also said that despite the rhetoric of non-co-operation, he was still waiting for the promised second meeting with the Minister. From the Mayor’s perspective, the Minister had cancelled the meeting as he had not been interested in co-operating on reasonable terms.

As of today, Council awaits to receive a draft of the TOD SEPP as promised prior to the gazettal. Having said that, it is also clear that the Department’s current position is to impose the TOD SEPP on Gordon, Killara, Lindfield and Roseville later this month, with an additional 18,000 to 20,000 dwellings to be added in the next 15 years. The impact of this on our heritage conservation areas, urban canopy and local congestion will be profound, and while it will be accompanied by over $200 million of Housing Contributions to the State, not a single cent has been committed to improving local open space, active transport, roads, education, health or any other infrastructure.

Meanwhile, targets from the LMRH SEPP have yet to be revealed although the 42-page Explanation of Intended Effect (see attachment 6) provides sufficient detail to conservatively anticipate the doubling of Ku-ring-gai’s population as a combination of both SEPPs. Once again, the impacts are profound and while hundreds of millions of Housing Contributions will go to the State, not a single cent has been promised for improving local infrastructure.

Recommendation:

That Council notes and receives this Mayoral Minute.

Ordinary Meeting of Council - 16 April 2024	MM.1 / 1

Item MM.1	S14450

Mayoral Minute

Housing Policy Updates (April 2024)