The development industry has criticised a NSW Opposition move to tear up new higher-density planning controls around nine Newcastle train stations.
The Coalition's planning spokesperson, Scott Farlow, told Parliament on Tuesday that he would introduce legislation allowing Parliament to disallow the Minns government's Transport Oriented Development Program around 37 train stations in Newcastle, Sydney and Wollongong.
A new research paper out on Thursday from the University of Newcastle's Institute for Regional Futures shows housing affordability is the top concern of residents in the Hunter.
The TOD program allows for six- to eight-storey apartment buildings within 400 metres of Newcastle, Hamilton, Adamstown, Kotara, Cardiff, Teralba, Booragul, Cockle Creek and Morisset train stations, regardless of existing council planning controls.
Residents in dozens of Newcastle and Lake Macquarie streets will see building height limits double or almost triple after the government published maps last month showing where the new rules will apply.
Mr Farlow says the government has chosen to override local planning controls without proper consultation and without additional funding for supporting infrastructure.
The move drew an angry response from Minister for Planning Paul Scully, who said all 13 councils involved except Ku-ring-gai had reached agreements with the government to plan for more housing.
"Rather than supporting a program that every serious commentator has applauded as increasing housing supply, they instead want to legislate to disallow that program to support the last council resisting increasing housing supply," Mr Scully said.
The Property Council and the Urban Development Institute of Australia rejected the Opposition move to scupper the TOD program.
"Not only would this proposed legislation undermine the TOD program, but it would set a dangerous precedent where key policies, critical to the operation of the NSW planning system, could be abolished or amended on a whim," the UDIA said.
"The NSW planning system is already the most risky and challenging in the country.
"At a time when development feasibility has never been more challenging, the last thing we need is to introduce more development risk into the system."
