‘Time to stop talking and start building’: The plan for 8000 new homes along Parramatta Road

About 8000 new homes could be delivered along Parramatta Road after the state government announced plans on Sunday to rezone the busy inner west transport corridor, in the latest effort to boost density and stem Sydney’s housing affordability crisis.

The proposed rezoning would cover sections of Parramatta Road within the Inner West local government area, including Leichhardt and Camperdown, which are close to the CBD, serviced by public transport and offer access to hospitals and schools.

“Parramatta Road has been talked about for decades with little result. It’s time to stop talking and start building,” NSW Premier Chris Minns said.

“What will transform this major corridor is more homes for people to revitalise this area. That’s what’s needed to deliver more vibrancy to one of our city’s most important corridors.”

On Sunday morning, Planning and Public Spaces Minister Paul Scully said there would be a mixture of densities and heights, with community consultation set to begin late next year.

“We’re not talking about everything being mega-towers,” he said.

The newly rezoned road is likely to see buildings around six to eight storeys high, the Committee for Sydney’s Eamon Waterford said.

While the government’s plan to rezone and open a new railway station at Woollahra has proven controversial, it says there are opportunities for affordable housing, active transport connections, new open space and commercial opportunities in the Parramatta Road corridor.

Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne said partnering with the NSW government to deliver more homes on Parramatta Road would allow more young people and essential workers to live in the area.

“Our inner west community wants to see more desperately needed new homes delivered, and local people are telling us that the Parramatta Road corridor is the right location for higher residential densities,” Byrne said.

The NSW Planning Department will work with the local council and relevant state government agencies to progress the rezoning. No compulsory acquisitions are proposed as part of the plan.

The announcement comes after the Inner West Council revealed in May its proposal to boost housing supply as an alternative approach to the state government’s transport-oriented development (TOD) scheme to rezone land within 400 metres of dozens of railway stations across Sydney to allow for six- or seven-storey unit blocks.

The council’s proposal, dubbed the “fairer future plan”, would rezone large areas, particularly Dulwich Hill and Marrickville, to enable greater density housing developments.

The plans received criticism from many in the community, including former NSW Greens convener and former Leichhardt councillor Hall Greenland, who said the increase in housing density would alter the character of established suburbs, calling it “the biggest planning and development change in the inner west since the area was settled by colonialists”.

The Minns government has forged ahead with plans to encourage the construction of more units around 37 railway stations under its rezoning scheme as it attempts to meet its share of the National Housing Accord target to deliver 377,000 well-located homes throughout the state by mid-2029.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.