The following are excerpts from a submission to the NSW Government on the “Draft Metropolitan Strategy for Sydney to 2031”.

Sydney should aim to grow at higher population rates than proposed in the Draft Metropolitan Strategy, says the Urban Taskforce.

“The Draft Strategy is based on Sydney’s growth of 1.1% while Melbourne has been growing at 1.7%,” says Urban Taskforce CEO, Chris Johnson. “Sydney will not remain as Australia’s number one city if we don’t support a robust growth and base our 20 year plan on this.”

“Sydney’s future growth predictions should not be based on the past which has held the city back but on an optimistic prediction that more people will want to live in Sydney. The housing target should be at least 570,000 rather than the current 545,000 over the next 20 years and there should be options for even higher numbers of houses with the Baby Boomers living much longer than previous generations.”

“The Urban Taskforce is also concerned that the draft strategy has proposed a new structure of subregional plans that does not relate to the regions defined by other parts of the State Government under the State Plan. The central region that spans both sides of Sydney Harbour should be replaced by a northern and a southern region to be consistent with most other regional structures.”

“Zoning needs to be more flexible to respond to new types of work and retail. The recent initiatives in Victoria are a good example of leadership in this area. It is jobs that matter in places like Western Sydney and these are more likely to occur where the market place sees opportunities rather than where government planners determine they should be located.”

“The big shift happening in Sydney is the swing to apartment living in urban areas and the strategy needs to recognise this and set the framework for where they should be located.”

“The Urban Taskforce is concerned that the Metropolitan Strategy does not get delayed by the introduction of the new planning system. Sydney cannot be put on hold during the transition phase to the new system and a modified Metropolitan Strategy is needed in the near future to signal our confidence as Australia’s leading city.”

Click here to download the full report from the Urban Taskforce website.