Wollongong City Council has welcomed a new report from Business Illawarra focussed on affordable housing supply in the region.
The report is in line with Council’s focus and efforts in this area to date, and many of the points raised in it are consistent with the Wollongong Housing Strategy adopted by Council in February 2023.
Since its adoption, Council has gone straight to work implementing a number of projects. One Council initiative that has been progressed over a number of phases is direct funding for affordable housing projects.
“We’ve a report to Council next Monday night that asks the Councillors to accept a tender for the provision of affordable housing services, so it’s safe to say that Council is focussed on using the mechanisms we have at our disposal to improve affordable housing opportunities in our city,” Wollongong City Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery AM said.
“This is the third round of affordable housing tenders considered by Council in the past few years with a tender to the value of $4.34M awarded to the Illawarra Community Housing Trust in 2019 and a tender of $1.3M to Head Start Homes in 2021.
“Regardless of the outcome from Monday night’s meeting, Council remains committed to considering innovative partnership opportunities as, and when, they emerge and this commitment is embedded in the adopted Housing Strategy.
“We’ve also exhibited a proposal in the draft City-wide Development Contributions Plan for a deferral of development contributions fees and next Monday we’ll also be considering a report on a draft Planning Agreement for 5% Affordable Housing on the former Port Kembla Primary School site.”
See: Council Report – Tender T1000077 – Affordable Housing (Round 3)
Cr Bradbery was pleased that the report recognised that Council is already invested in supporting the provision of affordable housing, and that solutions relied on all levels of Government as well as community housing providers, developers, and industry groups.
When it comes to the planning system, Councils work within the framework provided at the State level.
“The planning system is complex and Wollongong City Council has a proven track record for working with the NSW State Government on planning reforms and system improvements in the planning process,” he said.
“We recently participated in the Faster Local Approvals Grant program, which saw a significant improvement in our processing times for subdivision applications. We are keen to continue to be involved in emerging policy and funding opportunities that streamline planning processes or new initiatives that have a direct benefit to our community.
“However, the fact remains that this report provides some sobering data when it comes to the statistics around key worker housing and affordability. The analysis outlined in their report is helpful as it offers facts that support the wider anecdotal commentary we’re hearing in relation to this ongoing challenge.”
Wollongong City Council General Manager Greg Doyle said Council and Business Illawarra were in agreement that housing affordability was a major issue, and the new report reflected some of the priorities within Council’s Housing Strategy, which was adopted in February.
“Our Strategy looks at the areas that Council can influence whether that be planning controls, development contributions, fees and charges and education and advocacy,” Mr Doyle said.
“The wide-ranging document has a scope that reaches beyond housing affordability and one of the areas we spoke of – the evolution of the character of some of our suburbs – is also key to Business Illawarra’s report.
“To address housing issues including supply and demand, emergency housing, social housing, affordable housing and housing for people with disability, we will need as a community to acknowledge that that there will need to be some changes to our suburbs and town centres.
“These changes won’t just come through housing density, but in how we maintain good amenity, access to shops, jobs and transport and vital spaces and places for our community to work, socialise and relax.
“To achieve this we also need the NSW State Government to focus on integrated public transport solutions and to deliver on the promise of more trains and more service to support areas where there a higher density around transport hubs.”
Mr Doyle said Council supported the call within Business Illawarra’s report for developers to prepare quality development proposals, use responsible construction practices, to refrain from land banking and to work together where there is fragmented land ownership.
“There are a lot of pieces to this puzzle to deliver the right outcomes for our community and we all need to come to the table and collaborate,” Mr Doyle said.
“Reports like this from Business Illawarra are really helpful as it backs the research and engagement we did into developing our Housing Strategy and provides another voice who can advocate, like Council, for better outcomes for our community.”
