Region. Urban degeneration

Outer suburbs are being planned in a way that could lock them in forever as lands of monotonous ticky-tacky housing, ultimately causing urban degeneration and run-down area.. The Australian Financial Review said this view by the Grattan Institute’s Tomorrow’s Suburbs report which said that complex zoning laws, monotonous housing and single-ownership town centres are preventing city-fringe suburbs from adapting and rejuvenating as their community make-up changes. The lack of community areas and transport created run-down areas in Western Sydney, such as , Mount Druitt, as the city expanded during the baby-boom years.

Region. Funds for housing

The NSW government has given $18 million to Blacktown and The Hills councils to help them pay for the delivery of essential housing infrastructure. The funds are raised by levying developers.

Region. Housing development

The state government has conceded it has little hope of shifting half of Sydney's new housing developments from established suburbs to the city's fringe, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. Planning Minister, Brad Hazzard, says the market will decide where new homes are built, which is increasingly in established suburbs. The latest census results confirmed Sydneysiders' appetite for living closer to the city is growing. The chief executive of the developer lobby group Urban Taskforce, Chris Johnson, said demand was greatest in the inner ring of suburbs stretching from Hurstville to the south, Strathfield to the west and St Leonards to the north, and that people were increasingly willing to trade size in favour of location.

Schofields. Homes for 8000 people

The 465-hectare Schofields Precinct will be become a community of around 8000 people when fully developed. The government’s final plan, shows residential land for 2950 new dwellings, land for a new primary school, 61 hectares of conservation land, 31 hectares of open space and recreation areas, retail space in three neighbourhood centres, a potential public transport corridor and upgrades to key roads. The site is a few kilometres east of the new Sydney Business Park, which is under construction at Marsden Park and expected to accommodate more than 10,000 jobs. The Nirimba Education Precinct, which includes two high schools, a TAFE College and a UWS university campus, is within the Schofields Precinct boundary.

Region. Quicker housing approvals

Camden, Campbelltown Holroyd and Penrith councils have been selected for an expansion of the Electronic Housing Code, which when operational will allow families to get their home approved in a few days. “Once the code expansion is in place in these council areas, families will be able to get new home and home renovation approvals at the touch of a button,” The Minister for Planning and Infrastructure, Brad Hazzard, said.

Region. Review of opportrunities

A Chief Executives’ Review Committee, chaired by the Director-General of the Department of Premier & Cabinet, will oversee the Potential Housing Opportunities on Landowner Nominated Sites Review and make recommendations to the State Government. Twenty of the 29 sites are in Western Sydney. The Penrith local government area tops the list with seven sites. The largest sites in Western Sydney are at Orchard Hills, 1065.9 hectares; Bringelly, 889.2 hectares; and South Campbelltown, 607.0 hectares. It is anticipated that the review will be completed in the first quarter of 2012

Campbelltown. Downsizing of houses

The rising cost of living and higher interest rates is behind sales of many houses in Campbelltown where vendors have lost money. “There is a lot more downsizing going on. It’s becoming prevalent, where two years ago, (owners) had higher and bigger aspirations, said Douglass Driscoll, CEO, of the Starr Partners real estate network, in the Weekend Australian Financial Review.

Region. New housing options

Auburn Council is considering a plan to redevelop the former Lidcombe Hospital site into a subdivision while Blacktown Council is considering turning the existing Minchinbury Winery into three-storey townhouses, according to The Daily Telegraph in a report on Sydney's housing shortage.

Region. More housing on the fringe

The rate of development in established areas of Sydney would be cut in favour of development at the city fringe under a Coalition government, in a retreat from more than a decade of planning policy that has focused on increasing density to address population growth. Under questioning in Penrith yesterday during a leaders' forum on the future of Western Sydney, the Opposition Leader, Barry O'Farrell, said if he won next month's election he would alter the development mix in the government's metropolitan plan.

Campbelltown. Increase supply of cheaper homes

Edmondson Park was one of 33 affordable housing projects to receive first round funding from the Housing Affordability Fund, announced by federal Housing Minister, Tanya Plibersek. The commonwealth will contribute $1.5 million towards minor road and drainage works to lower the cost of building. Landcom would offer rebates, averaging $22,500, on 88 blocks out of the first 168 lots to be offered in the project to home buyers, with a total household income of less than $79,000.

Region. Housing upgrades brought forward

Western Sydney, along with the Hunter, Illawarra, Central Coast and North Coast, have been included in the NSW Government’s “renovation rescue” package which will see 10 years’ of upgrades to public housing to be done in the next 24 months to help the building industry. The $220 million of upgrades are expected top generate more than 2500 jobs for trades people across NSW.