HIGHER buildings and more of them will be fast-tracked in Sydney's south west and north west growth areas under the state's new planning laws, but Planning Minister Brad Hazzard said any local government area in the state can apply to have future development dealt with under a "code assessment" process.
The new code assessment process allows residents to have their say on the height, floor space, and positioning of new developments that would be automatically approved in 25 days.
But once the code is signed off, residents will not get a chance to object to developments that fall within the rules.
Residents living in suburbs that are not "high growth", like the North Shore and Northern Beaches, would be able to object to any development at any stage of the process.
Source: The Daily Telegraph Source: DailyTelegraph
Mr Hazzard said that while the state government has earmarked "growth areas" around the Westconnex road project, and North and South West rail links, to have fast-tracked development, it could apply anywhere in the state where there is a demand.
"The community understands that if they are spending their taxpayer dollars building new rail system, the taxpayer should get benefits like buying housing near the railway,'' Mr Hazzard said.
While the state government has not defined which "high growth" areas will have development fast-tracked through the code assessment process, key growth areas in the draft metropolitan strategy include Parramatta, Rydalmere, Castle Hill.
The Parramatta Road corridor running from the CBD through Burwood to Parramatta has also been targeted as a potential growth zone, as has a 7km circle around Parramatta taking in Westmead, Merrylands and Dundas.
The North West Rail corridor, which runs from Cherrybrook to Rouse Hill will also be earmarked for increased housing development, as will a 10,000 zone running from Kemps Creek to Camden - which itself will get thousands of new homes.
Labor and the Greens have said the "code assessment" model is unfair, because it will automatically reduce the rights of Western Sydney residents to object to development.
Mr Hazzard rejected this, saying that residents in areas subject to "code assessment" would have "maximum say", and the new laws were worth between two and three billion dollars to the economy.
Greens Planning spokesman David Shoebridge accused Mr Hazzard of creating a two-tiered planning system that would see western sydney overdeveloped.
"Under these proposals, more residents in Western Sydney will lose their right to have a say on development than anywhere else in the State,'' Mr Shoebridge said.
"It seems that the Premier has decided that it is easiest to take the rights away from residents in Western Sydney rather than the well-connected locals in his local patch.''
Opposition planning spokesman Luke Foley said the new laws did not give Western Sydney residents enough say in development decisions.
"All suburbs have to take their share of the increased density that our growing population demands. Premier O'Farrell cannot draw a line across the Harbour Bridge, protecting the community's rights to have a say about development on the north shore while stripping it away in the so-called growth areas,'' Mr Foley said.
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