The New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell and Minister for Planning and Infrastructure Brad Hazzard recently announced that the NSW Government was moving to overturn the current housing shortage by accelerating the release of land in the North West and South West Growth Centres of NSW.
According to Barry O'Farrell the unlocked land will provide enough area on which to build 13,000 new homes.
The North West site, Marsden Park, has the potential for approximately 10,000 dwellings, along with a town centre with 30,000 square metres of retail space and 50 hectares for public recreation.
The South West will see land released in Catherine Field, a site which the Government says has the capacity for around 3,000 new dwellings and employment land.
According to Mr Hazzard, the Government was able to accelerate the land release under the Precinct Acceleration Protocol, which allows Growth Centre precincts to be considered for rezoning earlier than scheduled, provided there is no additional cost to taxpayers and a commitment to forward delivery of infrastructure.
When announcing the accelerated land release the Government also referenced the work that had begun on the South West and North West rail links, which, according to Barry O'Farrell, meant that potential residents could buy in these future suburbs with confidence that transport infrastructure would be delivered.
Precinct planning by the Department of Planning and Infrastructure is set to commence soon so as to investigate land use options and infrastructure requirements.
From my position at Century 21, the prospect of new homes being built is good news for the residential property market in NSW, and goes some way to address housing supply issues. This of course is dependent on the dwellings being built and the eventuation of appropriate infrastructure.
I will be watching over coming months to see the progress made in the planning of these areas.