What happens in the Canterbury-Bankstown local matters to all of us. It is the last great tract of suburbs relatively close to the city with (traditionally) generally affordable housing. It is diverse, multicultural, and home to many thousands of working people. Shelter NSW has had a long interest in the area and deep concern about the potential for large scale displacement as a result of dramatically increasing density.
With huge tracts of land being captured by State planning reforms for increased housing density through the TOD Program and Low- to Mid-rise reforms, Canterbury-Bankstown Council has a lot on the (metro!) line.
We note Council’s efforts – through its Alternative Planning Approach – to put forward an improved, strategic rollout of rezoning and urban densification for key precincts, such as the Canterbury station precinct. The Alternative Planning Approach document seeks to promote the importance of the Canterbury Precinct to be more aligned with that of a “Tier 1 Accelerated” Precinct under the TOD Program.

Extract from the Alternative Planning Approach document (p. 6): Artist impression of Council’s alternative scheme
Whilst we would like to see a greater commitment to Affordable Housing contribution rates for such a key location (in keeping with Canterbury-Bankstown’s Affordable Housing Strategy 2020), we support local expertise and place-making that seeks to deliver a more refined and targeted density outcome than what is being offered by the NSW Department of Planning.