Our readers may be aware that Shelter NSW has been actively involved in trying to steer good housing outcomes in the Coffs Harbour LGA. Our Regional Housing Need Report identified it is a top LGA of concern. Last month, we reported that the NSW Government’s LAHC was abandoning its flawed Communities Plus model of redevelopment for the Argyll Estate.  This is something we called for in our Argyll Estate Planning Proposal submission to Coffs Harbour City Council last year.

This month, we have deepened our engagement with Coffs Harbour City Council and its Councillors on the Draft Affordable Housing Strategy.

Overall, we are impressed at the scope of work, actions, and initiatives included in the draft Strategy. We applaud Coffs Harbour City Council for being only one of a handful of regional Councils in NSW to develop a housing strategy specifically aimed at alleviating housing pressure and homelessness for low-income households.

The draft Strategy is strongly underpinned by the awesome work of Judith Stubbs & Associates (‘JSA’. The Background Paper and Options Paper by JSA can be found in Council business papers here. Both Papers are super practical and specific in their recommendations for the LGA (e.g. site-by-site planning analysis).

Our submission on the draft Affordable Housing Strategy thus recommends actioning a lot more of the initiatives proposed by JSA in the Options Paper. For example, no more delay can be tolerated in creating an Affordable Housing Contributions Scheme that captures planning uplift from rural to residential (greenfield) rezoning.

For any questions in relation to this submission and other work we have done in the Coffs Harbour LGA, please contact Policy Officer, Kayla Clanchy (kayla@shelternsw.org.au).