Is NSW Creating Strata No Go Zones?

The NSW government is proposing widespread changes to planning laws to improve urban outcomes.  The latest announcements suggest that areas will be defined as -

• 'enterprise zones' which are loosely regulated to encourage development,
• 'suburban character zones' which are heavily regulated to prohibit most forms of development
• 'future urban release area' which sets out areas where greenfield development is likely to occur in the future

The suburban character zones will allow council to excluding medium- or high-density development and is, apparently, in response to recent backlashes from communities, such as Ku-ring-gai, to past planning controls that allowed medium-rise and high-rise developments in established suburbs.

The idea strikes me as a trade-off: for allowing easier higher density development in some areas councils will be able to create areas where high density development is completely prohibited. A kind of strata no-go zone.

Whilst there's no doubt that the planning laws and processes need change, creating strata no-go zones is anti-strata and high density.  It adds another factor to the things that tend to make strata 'second rate' real estate that people buy if they can't afford to live in real homes in suburban zones - rather than the preferred living option for the future.

You can read more about the proposals in this SMH Domain article by Josephine Tovey and at the NSW Planning website.

Francesco ...