The population of the inner-west suburb of Leichhardt is set to double if NSW Labor and the Inner West Council’s (IWC) gets their planning changes in.
About 10,000 new dwellings are proposed for the area, which is included in the state government’s Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy, the Parramatta Road Corridor Urban Transformation Strategy (PRCUTS) and the IWC’s Our Fairer Future Plan (OFF).
Doodie Herman, Leichhardt resident, artist and member of community action group Leichhardt Matters, told Green Left the plans would be “absolutely disastrous” for the suburb.
“Leichhardt is totally slammed; we have three different planning instruments coming at us … all of them are so conflicting that it’s hard to know exactly what is going to happen. They are talking about mowing down a completely functioning suburb with heritage areas and strong character; it doesn’t make any sense.”
Herman said the council-government proposals could not be achieved without massive demolitions. “The old three- and four- storey walk-ups will be the first places to go. It’s all very well for the owners of those blocks, but the renters who are living in them are just going to get evicted. Replacing those relatively affordable homes will take many years. Where are all those evicted renters going to go?”
Residents cut out
Herman said residents have been “cut out” of the planning process. “The state government is making itself the sole developer consent authority. It has pushed this further with its draft community consultation plan, which says you only need to be notified seven days before development begins on a neighbouring block.
“Whole streets have been rezoned for six-to-eight-storey apartments. You could wake up and find a seven-day notice that you will be living next to a construction site for a new apartment building … We could be living in a construction site for 15 years.”
Herman said there had been little to no community consultation on these projects, particularly the PRCUTS expansion up to Marion Street. “It’s no longer a corridor; it now runs almost a kilometre from Parramatta Road and includes the oldest part of Leichhardt, including heritage listed sites.
“Even if only 30% are built, which is what the IWC’s feasibility study suggested was likely, we are looking at a massive number of eight-storey buildings in that area.”
‘Affordable’ housing
Herman said the idea that this will deliver affordable housing is false. “The idea that private developers will give us abundant, affordable housing is an oxymoron. Private developers are not going to do that; they build for profits.”
She said constraints on housing construction, including shortages of labour, high material costs and supply chain problems mean that building affordable housing at the proposed volume is unlikely to be feasible.
“People are suspicious of the idea that this is all about the supply of affordable housing and very uncomfortable with the relationship between the government and private developers.”
The ABC Four Corners’ July 14 report Unaffordable: Australia’s Broken Housing Promise demolished the idea that affordable housing was the solution to the housing crisis, pointing out that it is usually not affordable at all. It explained that, for most people eligible, “affordable” housing rents, set at 80% of market rate, are still far too high.
Herman said renters will be the biggest losers from Labor’s planning changes. “The idea that renters don’t have a stake in the community in which they live, because they are going to be moving on … is not true.
“My sense is that people who rent don’t want to leave their community and their people. They have a huge sense of belonging in that community. Leichhardt is 40% renters and what happens here is about their future too.
“There is not a lot they can do about changing what happens to them; their landlords will be making the decisions. That’s why we have to get engaged in this fight.”
Herman said community push-back was building. “We have noticed big spikes in hits to our website and social media pages and we held a very successful public meeting in June on the issue.” Herman said people will certainly consider housing affordability when they vote in the election next March.
“A lot of Labor councillors are actually working as staffers for state MPs; they are not actually representing us. A lot of other local councils are pushing back [against the government’s planning laws] but the IWC is throwing us under the bus because it is controlled by Labor.”
“This massive amount of density coming to Leichhardt is … not a good outcome for the people who live here now or people who will move here in future. We have limited green space, only one library, one swimming pool and no mass transit options, only light rail and buses.
“If we need to build more housing here, let’s look at where it is appropriate and feasible. Planning needs to be more nuanced, responsive and aware of what level of density the suburb can absorb.”
[Isaac Nellist is a renter in Leichhardt and running for the Socialist Alliance in the seat of Balmain in the March 2027 NSW elections. Get in touch with Leichhardt Matters on its website and Instagram page.]