Back to the future
Union St in 1988. Picture: City of Sydney Archives
The blanket heritage protection of Paddington’s terraced neighbourhood is in serious doubt after the NSW government ploughed ahead with planning law changes that will see the suburb vulnerable to new medium-rise residential developments. The laws came into effect on February 28, with the Minns government claiming the rule changes would deliver 112,000 homes across the state within five years.
“Terraces, townhouses and residential flat buildings have a long history in NSW urban planning, but over recent decades have effectively been banned across local government areas,” the government said in a statement.
“Allowing these housing types to be permissible again will boost housing supply around transport and town centres, improve affordability, maintain the character of an area and build better communities.”
For areas such as Paddington, already built around terrace housing, the rule changes mean 'residential flat buildings' could once again be constructed in the suburb at the expense of century-old terraces and buildings of significance. Under the changes, the special heritage conservation zone that has kept the suburb protected from large-scale development for 50 years may be circumvented by developers.
An interactive map on the government’s website shows that much of the suburb is now vulnerable to development following the rezoning, even the neighbourhood’s oldest and most prized streets. Under the ‘reforms’, six-to-eight level apartment blocks would be allowed to be built beside small-scale properties without consideration given to existing residents.
Woollahra Mayor Sarah Swan immediately raised concerns about the law changes, describing the policy as “ill-informed”.
The policy, she says, “is a lazy blanket policy for ill-informed development that ignores existing housing density, overrides heritage conservation areas and has no regard for community consultation or future impact on infrastructure”.
“Woollahra Council has consistently met the NSW government’s housing targets, is on track to meet new targets and is well placed to plan for appropriate future development,” Swan says. “It is difficult to understand the government’s decision to force through these reforms.”
Swan argues that Woollahra is already delivering the amount of new housing required under state government demands.
“The NSW government is already aware of the work Woollahra Council is doing to support housing growth in a way that considers place-based planning,” she says. “Council is already delivering a steady increase in housing, with more than 100 new dwellings being added annually since 2016.
“We exceeded the 2016-26 housing targets set by the NSW government and we are comfortably on track to meet the new targets. Council has endorsed strategies for areas such as Double Bay and Edgecliff that aim to deliver hundreds of new dwellings within already dense environments, while maintaining high standards for planning.”
The issue has been burning in the neighbourhood and across the city since last year when the government decided to overturn decades of planning authority that gave priority to heritage concerns in areas such as Paddington, which are much heralded for their high-density streets, urban beauty and liveability. Already some significant and heritage houses in other suburbs have been razed to fit large residential apartment blocks.
The National Trust has described the ‘reforms’ as “the biggest threat to the heritage of NSW that has ever been proposed”.
“The reforms will have a dramatic and permanent effect on the heritage of NSW,” the trust responded last year. “They will have an unparalleled negative impact on the planning system of NSW — including impacts to heritage. If the proposals go ahead, previous plans to destroy The Rocks will pale into insignificance with the scale of heritage destruction that will be legitimised across NSW.”
The Paddington Society, which has fought to protect the heritage of the area for five decades, says the reforms pose a significant threat to the character of the area.
“In very simple terms, the Paddington Society opposes any overriding planning controls in heritage conservation areas,” says society president Esther Hayter.
Paddington ward councillor Harriet Price believes the information on the changes remains unclear and pose a threat to the essence of Paddington.
“Concerningly, it is still unclear the extent to which our precious heritage protections will apply,” Price says. “Without further clarity, the changes pose a threat to Paddington's treasured and hard fought status as a heritage conservation area.”
For Swan, the government’s one-size-fits-all regulations could be a disaster for the area.
“Woollahra Council is committed to supporting housing growth, but it must be done in a way that respects the existing character of our communities and takes into account the unique challenges faced by each area,” she says.
“The precincts identified in the low and mid-rise housing reforms are simply not suitable for this scale of development. We will continue to advocate for responsible, place-based planning that meets the housing needs of the community while respecting its infrastructure and environmental constraints.”
To view the map showing the rezoning patterns, go to paddingtonsociety.org.au/nsw-governments-planning-changes/ and click on the interactive link.