Plan to increase housing density is concerning
The NSW Government's plan to increase housing density that is currently on exhibition is concerning.
The Woy Woy Peninsula climate change adaptation study states large sections of the Woy Woy Peninsula "will become increasingly untenable for residential use under climate change projections for sea level rise".
Member for Gosford Ms Liesl Tesch has claimed Woy Woy would be spared from the Transport-Oriented Development program being rolled out across Greater Sydney, due to the impacts of flooding and sea level rise.
Was that because the Government has finally seen the light?
Does it support the implementation the regional plan strategy 7.8 to not build in areas if there is a flood risk?
Or was it because "if the council's planning rules match or go further, the Transport-Oriented Development policy wouldn't need to be implemented" as stated by the Planning Minister in a press release on November 28.
A large majority of the Woy Woy Peninsula is zoned low density and the dual occupancies are already common place.
Yet in a statement by the Local Planning office, the Peninsula will be included in the new planning laws that increase dual occupancies, townhouses and manor buildings.
Such blanket policies, which increase in density in R1 and R2 zones, ignore the reality of climate impacts the Government knows about and the strategic planning policies recognise.
If the Peninsula is to take on more population, what plans have the Council and the State Government to adapt the swelling population to the rising water levels and extreme floods?
For example, consider the high possibility of access to Gosford Hospital being restricted during increasing extreme weather events.
Shouldn't the area have its own public hospital and emergency department?
The Department of Planning has provided an explanation of intended effects of changes ot low and mid-rise housing provisions can be found online at https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/draftplans/exhibition/explanation-intended-effect-changes-create-low-and-mid-rise-housing
SOURCE:
Email, 17 Feb 2024
Mark Ellis, Woy Woy