A rezoning frenzy by the New South Wales government has a council on the south-western fringe of Sydney up in arms, over what it's described as a lack of supporting public infrastructure and community consultation.
Premier Dominic Perrottet announced on Monday that the government was "throwing everything" at building 70,000 new homes in Sydney's west.
"We are focusing our efforts on some of the fastest growing areas in Western Sydney to help more families get into homes sooner," he said.
"Working with councils [for] rezoning is one important lever that we are pulling to get the ball rolling on more housing supply across our state."
As part of the announcement, the government unveiled an updated version of the Greater Macarthur Growth Area, which includes plans for more than 57,000 homes.
Wollondilly Council Deputy Mayor Matthew Deeth said he was "gobsmacked" to see the update "ramming through" changes to a main road and industrial lands.
"The Outer Sydney Orbital has shifted its corridor route and areas like Douglas Park are now facing having a freeway on their doorstep," he said.
"Areas like Menangle that now have major industrial areas on their doorstep have had no consultation whatsoever.
"The community will be devastated that they were not even notified at a bare minimum."
Outer Sydney Orbital is a proposed corridor for a motorway and freight rail line in western Sydney.
A spokesperson for Transport for NSW said a recent state heritage listing had created the need for changes to the orbital path and it would be subject to further investigations and consultation in 2023.
A Department of Planning and Environment spokesperson said there had been several opportunities for consultation on the proposed changes over the past two years.
"The department has worked with – and continues to work closely with – Wollondilly Council, with its staff having been involved in the resolution of strategic issues."
19,000 homes planned for Appin
This week's announcement captured a decision in November to take planning consent for 19,000 homes at Appin and an additional 3,000 in North Appin away from Wollondilly and Campbelltown Councils.
Wollondilly Mayor Matt Gould slammed the decision.
"It's clear the government is more focused on making developers happy than actually getting good development outcomes," he said.
"There is not any really meaningful commitment around roads, public transport, school, hospitals.
"The state government knows council won't approve a development that doesn't have the infrastructure to support it."
Cr Gould said he feared the move would repeat the failures of sequenced infrastructure in neighbouring Wilton, where construction of 15,000 homes has started.
"We are in the ridiculous situation where people are moving in and the short-term solution to dealing with the effluent people are producing is trucking it out every day," he said.
"That is not a good planning decision."
He said he believed there was a half-a-billion-dollar shortfall on infrastructure in Wilton.
'A significant amount of work has been done'
The Western Parkland City Authority covers eight local government areas in western Sydney, including Camden, Campbeltown, Wollondilly and Fairfield.
In October 2022, the authority's chair Jennifer Westacott said the areas under her remit would require about a third of the state's infrastructure budget over the next 15 years.
"To keep pace with the growth and scale of the Parkland City, it is expected the city could require 15 to 30 per cent of the NSW infrastructure spend – the equivalent of $60 billion to $120 billion in today's terms," she said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Planning and Environment said infrastructure would be a key consideration in the department's assessment of each proposal.
"A significant amount of work has been done to make sure future development is supported by the right infrastructure, and we will continue to work with councils, government agencies and service providers as the area develops, to ensure the timing and delivery of infrastructure keeps pace with growth," the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the department expected voluntary planning agreements with developers would support the developments.
Voluntary planning agreements are agreements between developers and government agencies, requiring the developer to provide funds or works for infrastructure, services or other public amenities.
Affordable housing and an unaffordable lifestyle
National Growth Area Alliance chief executive Bronwen Clark said similar developments were being approved around the nation.
"They're plonking thousands and thousands of homes in paddocks and thinking, 'We'll just let people get on with their lives when the get there'," she said.
"But communities and families need so much more than a house to survive."
Ms Clark said the alliance had conducted research on the cost of getting to work from an outer-suburban area in Sydney.
"We found households are spending 17 per cent of their household income on transport costs, just to get to work — that's alarming," she said.
Ms Clark said the lack of transport and jobs also put restrictions on the ability of people to progress their careers.
"There simply isn't enough time in the day to do childcare and school drop off, get to the train station, get to the job in the city [to] pursue their career and then do it all in reverse."
