Coffs Harbour, like many regional NSW cities, is facing a housing crisis, so the announcement of a major redevelopment of an existing public housing estate earlier this year was welcome.
However, the effectiveness of the project has been questioned amid news the project will add just nine new public housing residences, with the bulk of the homes built to be offered to private buyers.
Under a rezoning proposal from local and state governments, the Argyll Street Estate, which currently has 127 public housing residences, will be transformed into a mixed-density project that will deliver almost 500 new homes.
Less than a third will be for public housing, with 322 homes to be sold commercially.
With 127 public houses currently on the estate, that is an increase of just nine properties.
Tim Nott, secretary of the Coffs Harbour Greens, said the proposal did next to nothing to address the region's crippling housing shortage.
"If they think that nine more properties are going to solve the solution over the next five years, they are deluded," he said.
State government figures show an expected waiting time of 10 years or more in Coffs Harbour for any kind of social housing.
The city has more than 700 applicants on the current waiting list.
"[They] are not looking at the situation that's happening on the ground right now," Mr Nott said.
The Argyll Estate precinct includes about 19 hectares of land, with the proposed redevelopment lying west of the Pacific Highway that runs through Coffs Harbour.
Mr Nott, who recently ran as the Greens candidate for the seat of Cowper, launched his campaign from Argyll Street.
He said the development approval system in the state was prioritising profit over quality of life.
"No significant changes have been proposed, so we can only assume this has been done by design."
Gurmesh Singh, the state MP for Coffs Harbour, said the private homes would be affordable.
"We all know that there is a shortage of homes and this is where the state government, working with council, wanted to increase the supply of housing," he said.
"Seventy per cent would be affordable new homes — somewhere where a young family could move in, for instance."
The Coffs Harbour Council last month said it had endorsed rezoning plans as many of the homes were more than 50 years old and reaching the end of their useful life.
Fears for flood-prone properties
Mr Nott also harboured concerns about the estate being prone to flooding.
In previous years, the estate has been inundated several times, as recently as this year during severe flooding in northern NSW.
Mr Nott said he was concerned that not enough environmental considerations were in place for the proposal.
"The changing climate in terms of inundation has not been taken into account; it currently floods regularly," he said.
Mr Singh said the proposal process took into account flood mitigation strategies.
"Those risks are present anywhere across New South Wales and anywhere in Coffs," he said.
"Things like that are all considered as part of the development process."
The Coffs Harbour council report outlines two key responses to flood mitigation. Firstly, that rezoned land is recommended to be mostly outside the worst areas impacted.
Secondly, for all future floor levels to be at or above the probable maximum flooding level.
A flood impact assessment carried out by council indicated that, while the proposal would not result in significant impacts, mitigation works were necessary.
Concerns for vulnerable members of Indigenous community
Yvette Pacey is a Gumbaynggir woman and chairs the Garlambirla Guuyu-Girrwaa Aboriginal Elders group in Coffs Harbour.
Ms Pacey was concerned the rezoning proposal would put the estate's vulnerable members at risk of relocation.
"We need to work together as a community with government and LGAs to have an understanding about what people's needs are," Ms Pacey said.
"[It's] about the psychological impact that these changes are going to have on people who've lived in that area for quite a long time."
The estate, sitting on Gumbaynggirr country, is home to a sizeable Indigenous community.
Ms Pacey called for greater transparency from local and state government bodies to scrutinise the proposal.
"I would be going to social housing providers to see how many applicants we have on that waiting list."
Community consultation begins this month and will end in August.
