City of Sydney and Public Housing

During 2006 the City of Sydney undertook an Urban Design Study of Redfern Waterloo. This study included land owned by the then NSW Department of Housing. The study found that some areas of Public Housing were of quite low density and that there were opportunities to increase density on Housing New South Wales (HNSW) lands and decrease heights. Here we have bought together the key aspects of this study as it relates to public housing. We have also some maps from the CoS Draft LEP in September 2010 which show what CoS proposed as their controls for the HNSW area prior to RWA BEP2 and HNSW's Preliminary Master Plan. While the Draft BEP2 proposed an increase of 35% in density over the Council study, the Council submission on BEP2 actually proposed increased density in Waterloo if a new railway station on the Airport line could be constructed.

City of Sydney Council Submission on Draft BEP2: The City of Sydney Submission tested various aspects of the Draft BEP2 and made a number of recommendations for changes to the plan. The council also proposed lower densities for the Redfern public housing estate and increased density in Waterloo arround a proposed new railway station.
Council Draft LEP Consultation with RWA & HNSW: In preparing the Draft CoS LEP covering the public housing estate areas of Redfern and Waterloo the Council was required to have Consultation with Government departments, adjoining councils and other bodies under section 62 of EP&A Act. This report which was Appendix J in the documents that went to Council on 6 September 2010 says “After additional consultation with Housing NSW it has been clarified and accepted that Waterloo Redfern Urban Design Study has offered reasonable and appropriate LEP recommendations. Redfern Waterloo Authority Built Environment Plan – Stage 2, as advised by the Authority, will not be dissimilar to Council’s recommendations and strategy for this area.”(page 15 – also see p23) This raises the question of why didn’t the RWA & HNSW just accept the CoS draft controls or negotiate any small variations rather than go through a separate BEP2 process? The meeting referred to was in May 2008 there may have been changes made since this statement was made. This is a link to the report covering CoS consultations - just search the the 482 KB PDF for Redfern or Waterloo.
Council Draft LEP Height Controls for HNSW areas of Redfern & Waterloo: This Height map for the HNSW Planning Master Plan area has been extracted from the Draft Local Environment Plan (LEP) that City of Sydney put to the Department of Planning for Approval and Exhibition in September 2010. This map is provided for easy comparison of the council's proposed controls with the alternative controls produced by the Redfern Waterloo Authority BEP2 and Housing NSW's Master Planning for the Redfern & Waterloo public housing estates. This map is based on the area used by HNSW in its consultations for the Master Plan. File is PDF 289Kb
Council Draft LEP Floor Space Ratio (FSR) for HNSW areas of Redfern & Waterloo: This FSR map for the HNSW Planning Master Plan area has been extracted from the Draft Local Environment Plan (LEP) that City of Sydney put to the Department of Planning for Approval and Exhibition in September 2010. This map is provided for easy comparison of the council's proposed controls with the alternative controls produced by the Redfern Waterloo Authority BEP2 and Housing NSW's Master Planning for the Redfern & Waterloo public housing estates. This map is based on the area used by HNSW in its consultations for the Master Plan. File is PDF 292Kb.
Council Draft LEP Heritage Map proposed for HNSW areas in Redfern & Waterloo: This Heritage map for the HNSW Planning Master Plan area has been extracted from the Draft Local Environment Plan (LEP) that City of Sydney put to the Department of Planning for Approval and Exhibition in September 2010. This map is provided for easy comparison of the council's proposed controls with the alternative controls produced by the Redfern Waterloo Authority BEP2 and Housing NSW's Master Planning for the Redfern & Waterloo public housing estates. This map is based on the area used by HNSW in its consultations for the Master Plan. File is PDF 259Kb
Council Draft LEP Land Use Zoning Map for HNSW areas in Redfern & Waterloo: This Land Use Zoning Map for the HNSW Planning Master Plan area has been extracted from the Draft Local Environment Plan (LEP) that City of Sydney put to the Department of Planning for Approval and Exhibition in September 2010. This map is provided for easy comparison of the council's proposed controls with the alternative controls produced by the Redfern Waterloo Authority BEP2 and Housing NSW's Master Planning for the Redfern & Waterloo public housing estates. This map is based on the area used by HNSW in its consultations for the Master Plan. File is PDF 263Kb
City of Sydney Draft LEP: The City of Sydney has prepared a Draft Local Environment Plan (LEP) which covers all of the Local Government Area not removed from its Contol by the NSW Government - this currently includes the Public Housing areas that are to be the focus of the RWA's proposed BEP2 planning controls. The Council having passed the draft LEP sends it to the Department of Planning for their approval before being placed on public exhibition. It is considered likely that the public housing estates will be removed from the control of the council and from the draft LEP so that the RWA can exhibit their proposed planning conrols for the area. Below are links to the Councils LEP Draft controls when they went to Council Committee on 6 September 2010.
DoH Properties in Waterloo & Redfern Urban Design Area: This map was produced at the end of the consultation process as a result of requests from the community. The map shows the location of Department of Housing properties in Waterloo & Redfern Urban Design Area. PDF 278Kb.
Redfern DoH - Kettle Street in the Urban Design Study: This is the extract covering the Redfern DoH properties generally boundered by Elizabeth, Phillip, Young and Cooper Streets. PDF 1.7 MB.
Waterloo DoH - George Street in the Urban Design Study: This is the extract covering the main Waterloo DoH estate generally boundered by Cope, Phillip, Pitt and McEvoy Streets. PDF 1.9 MB.
Waterloo Mixed DoH - Elizabeth Street in the Urban Design Study: This is the extract covering the DoH properties in Waterloo that are largely unconsolidated in the area generally boundered by Pitt, Phillip, Morehead and McEvoy Streets. This area has a number of heritage features which are shown on the heritage map. PDF 1.8 MB.
DoH Redevelopment Opportunity Example: The City of Sydney Urban Design Study takes the towers on Phillip Street Waterloo as an example of how the site could be redeveloped to provide higher density and eventually remove the towers. It proposes reopening George Street and turning current public open space into more housing and private open space for tenants. File is 837 Kb PDF.
Heritage Map from Waterloo & Redfern Urban Design Study: This is the Heritage map from the Waterloo & Redfern Urban Design Study. It show some of the issues facing DoH if it wished to consolidation its land holdings in the "Elizabeth Street" Urban Design Study area. PDF 360 Kb.
Building Type in Waterloo & Redfern Urban Design Study Area: This map shows building type in the Waterloo & Redfern Urban Design Study Area and hence helps to identify the range of buildings held by the Department of Housing in the Waterloo & Redfern area. PDF 379 Kb.
Actual Current Floor Space Ratio's and those proposed by the Urban Design Study: The Urban Design Study showed the current Floor Space Ratio (FSR) controls for the area, as well as the actual FSR's and made proposals about the FSR's that should be in new City of Sydney controls. We have shown here the maps that show the actual FSR's that exisit as well as what has been proposed by the City of Sydney. As some DoH land exceeds current council controls there seeemed little point in including the current zoning. In broad outline FSR controls are proposed to go from 1.5:1 to a range of 1.75:1 to 3.5:1. Map is PDF 879 KB.
Actual Current Heighs and the proposed Height Controls from the Urban Design Study: The Urban Design Study showed the current Height controls for the area, as well as the actual Heights and made proposals about the Heights that should be in new City of Sydney controls. We have shown here the maps that show the actual Heights that currently exisit as well as what has been proposed by the City of Sydney. As some DoH land exceeds current council heigh controls there seeemed little point in including the current height zoning. In broad terms the City of Sydney proposed controls are to decrease height but increase land coverage. Map is PDF 863 KB.
NSW LAHC sites within City of Sydney LGA: This is a map from May 2021 showing Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC) properties in the City of Sydney. LAHC own the land on which public and some social housing is located. The map is produced from the City of Sydney property records. Earlier in 2021 the NSW made available the locations of publicly owned lands but it excluded all property owned by state own corporations such as LAHC. For those in Redfern and Waterloo this map can be compared with a similar Council map from 2006 of DoH Properties in Waterloo & Redfern Urban Design Area (http://www.redwatch.org.au/issues/public-housing/redevelopment/cosuds/dohmap/download). A comparison shows LAHC properties in Redfern and Waterloo that have been sold by LAHC between 2006 and 2021.

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