Residents demand halt to super high-rise until pieces are in place

About 150 residents have called for an immediate stop to all high-rise development in Wollongong’s CBD and immediate surrounds, saying the basic infrastructure is already struggling to cope.

Gathering for an hour on Sunday morning, the meeting, organised by Neighbourhood Forum 5’s Wrong for the Gong working group, expressed concern about a strain on roads and parking, loss of views and green space, and an increased flood risk caused by large new developments on flood-prone land.

Wrong for the Gong lead Leigh Forsyth insisted the group wasn’t anti-development or anti-housing. But he said plans to build up to 40 storeys in a precinct in which Wollongong City Council recently mandated a much lower height limit “represents a flagrant breach of mandated height restrictions for this precinct, and with no explanation”.

Leigh outlined concerns for what he described as an excessive over-development of the city before any money was invested to improve roads, public transport, parklands, stormwater infrastructure, and pedestrian-cycling areas.

People unaware

He said the goalposts had shifted so quickly that most people in Wollongong weren’t aware of how the city would change, and he said council seemed powerless to stop it.

“Council envisaged that with appropriate development, the population for the central CBD of Wollongong would double from 9000 as it currently is, to 18,000 in 20 years, in 2046,” Leigh said.

But he said under state government-supported accelerated housing reforms, the population was set to surge much more quickly.

“This precinct alone will have an additional 2500 units, over 1300 cars and around 6500 residents all dumped here in three to five or six years.”

Leigh predicted this would lead to many serious problems he believed the state government hadn’t turned its mind to.

'Shoeboxes without balconies'

Leigh said he was also worried about the social and mental health issues for people who would be moving into some of the smaller apartments, which he described as “shoeboxes without balconies”.

He questioned whether the Illawarra’s road and rail infrastructure could cope with the massive growth in population. “The majority of people will come from Sydney to live a hybrid life. They’ll continue to work and commute to Sydney which as we know is a 90-minute train journey each way.”

He said the prospect of most new residents catching the train to Sydney was unfathomable. “At present there are 26,000 people commuting each day from the Illawarra to Sydney, and only 20 per cent are on the train.”

Arthur Rorris, head of the South Coast Labour Council, expressed his concern at the piecemeal approach to the government’s efforts to address the housing crisis.

“We want to see the plan, and we want to see the evidence that the real problem is being addressed rather than it being an excuse, or simply a cover, just to allow development for developments sake. Because if that’s what happens there will be some people who make a lot of money out of it, and there’ll be a lot of working people waiting for the next train.”

Arthur said: “We need a minister for development, not a minister for developers.”

'Slums of the future'

Independent Ward 2 Cr Andrew Anthony said: “I’m really worried we are building the slums of the future.” He said within a decade, Wollongong’s famous views could be gone.

“What really concerns me is that by the time this is all finished, we’re going to see this wall of development all the way across Flinders Street. We need to think about how it’s going to look in the future.”

Neighbourhood Forum 5 convenor Jane Robertson said locals finding out about the plans for Flinders Street were “alarmed” but she feared the majority weren’t aware of what’s in the pipeline.

“Before embarking on any project in the city, town planning is essential to creat the liveable city that we elect our council to provide,” Jane said. “However, our council is being overlooked, and there is no thought out plan for the whole of our gateway streets, Flinders to Smith Street.”

Sunday’s gathering unanimously carried two motions put by Leigh Forsyth. “That we acknowledge council’s Flinders Street Urban Plan as the principle planning document, which would thereby return the development to a level of some sanity, and no development is to be approved or built until fundamentally all of precinct infrastructure is planned, costed and delivered.

In a statement, Wollongong MP and Planning Minister Paul Scully admitted state government bureaucrats weren’t impressed with some of the high-rise plans being put forward for the city.

“The Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure has expressed 'significant' concerns over the proposed maximum building height and the build form of the proposed 38-storey development at North Wollongong Station.”

Scully said, however: “Housing is possibly the most pressing issue on the minds of Wollongong residents. Young people, families and key workers want to call Wollongong home but housing remains one of the most expensive things in the household budget. Recent reports also indicate that Wollongong is one of the least affordable cities in the nation.”

In a statement, Wollongong City Council said: “The Flinders Street Urban Design Framework had been shaped by community feedback and sets out council’s vision for renewal of the precinct to encourage sustainable housing growth, improved active and public transport connections, and public open spaces, supporting a range of business, retail and residential uses.

“Council will continue to provide feedback as appropriate to individual proposals as they are lodged and assessed by the Department of Planning and Infrastructure.”

Jeremy Lasek is a member of Wrong for the Gong and Neighbourhood Forum 5.