The NSW Department of Planning and Environment has proposed changes to the planning rules on rezoning proposals as part of the Department Planning Reform Action Plan. 

Shelter NSW supports the Government’s objective to provide better guidance and transparency on planning related matters. However, there is a strong correlation between up-zoning, gentrification and a long-term decline in housing affordability across Sydney metropolitan suburbs, especially those closer to the CBD.

In response, Shelter’s submission argued that the up-zoning of land should support the broader aims of the planning system to deliver affordable housing as a public benefit.

We strongly believe that councils who want to deliver a small percentage of affordable housing linked with land rezoning should be supported to do so, and that the Planning Authority should meet its own commitment to delivering at least 10% affordable housing on all government-owned rezoning proposals. Shelter NSW will keep a close eye on all planning reforms and continue to advocate on behalf of those households on the lowest forty percent of incomes.