Homes NSW has advised that the development is expected to deliver:

• around 500 new homes including a mix of social, affordable and market housing
• new and improved public open space
• community facilities and potential retail uses
• preserving the heritage Clothing Store building for future use

The precinct includes three lots that will be developed in stages. Carriageworks Way and other key precinct roads will remain in Transport for NSW's ownership.

The first stage focuses on planning and delivering new social housing on the lot adjacent to the railway corridor and Carriageworks, near the existing affordable housing Platform Apartments.

Later stages will deliver additional housing, open space, retail and community uses, and the transformation of the heritage Clothing Store building. Project timelines will be confirmed and communicated as planning progresses.

Homes NSW is committed to delivering a high-quality development that responds to community needs, respects the heritage significance of the site, and contributes to increased housing supply.

As planning progresses, Homes NSW will keep the community informed and provide opportunities to learn more about the project and share feedback. Homes NSW will review the Concept Plan in consultation with the community as planning progresses. It is committed to building on the extensive community consultation already undertaken at this site over the years. The project will continue to reflect community priorities established in the Redfern North Eveleigh Strategic Vision 2022.

The North Eveleigh Concept Plan, approved in 2008, establishes the planning framework for the precinct. Our renewal will build on the intent and urban design principles of the Concept Plan, while responding to current government housing priorities and contemporary planning and design standards.

The Clothing Store Sub-Precinct forms part of the broader North Eveleigh Precinct renewal.

For more information, please visit the Homes NSW Project website Clothing Store Sub-Precinct renewal, email communityengagement@homes.nsw.gov.au or call Homes NSW on 1800 738 718 and leave a message on our voicemail so someone can call you back.

Source: Clothing Store Sub-Precinct renewal project website and notice from Homes NSW 6 August 2026.

REDWatch Note: REDWatch is following up with Homes NSW to receive a briefing on the project and has been pushing for an early community meeting with Homes NSW. REDWatch has also talked to Carriageworks about the possibility of a community meeting being held there as the closest meeting location to the site.

REDWatch has provided the CHPs with some tenant questions (see later in this email) and in our last email we also provided some broader questions about issues CHPs need to address over coming months (also repeated later in this email). There will be an opportunity to raise questions at the meeting.

So come along and hear from the CHPs on Thursday 6^th August 2026 from 6:00 – 7:30pm at Counterpoint’s Factory Community Centre 67 Raglan Street Waterloo or join us online on Zoom http://tinyurl.com/RedwatchMeetingZoom. 

You can promote this meeting electronically by sharing our Facebook post or flyer or asking Navin for a poster at The Factory.

What is Social Housing?

This REDWatch CHP meeting will focus on social housing. Given the confusion about the terms like public and social housing, the Waterloo Redevelopment Group in 2024 requested the Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA) to prepare a Social Housing Factsheet which is on the REDWatch website. This may be helpful in explaining some of the key differences between Public, Aboriginal and Community housing models leading into the coming REDWatch meeting. This sheet compares ownership, management, dwellings under management, eligibility for Commonwealth Rent Assistance, regulation and complaints across the three different types of social housing.

We will leave the complexities of affordable housing for another meeting but for some information on the differences between social and affordable see AHURI’s Brief What is the difference between social housing and affordable housing - and why do they matter?

The Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and Social Impact Management Plan (SIMP) 

This is the bit of the planning proposal that deals with how people might be impacted positively or negatively by the development. REDWatch is aware that Council and some other stakeholders have concerns about the adequacy of the existing recommendations. From REDWatch’s perspective more needs to happen in the management plan to guarantee that community cohesion is rebuilt and that a successful social mix outcome is achieved in the longer term.

For example, since 2010 there have been lots of meetings with a focus of what is necessary to deliver the promise of “social mix” from mixed tenure developments. The study and plan have a section on “Changing social mix and impact on existing communities” which it recognises as a “High Negative”. The management plan proposes a number of measures it expects to move the outcome to become a “High Positive”. REDWatch thinks public housing tenants will have some ideas on what needs to happen to deliver the best possible outcomes from the redevelopment, so if nothing else put your thoughts into a submission.

Across a range of areas, the Social Impact Management Plan makes 82 recommendations. There are three questions that need to be asked: a) have all the possible impacts (positive and negative) been identified; b) do the recommendations adequately address the problem and improve the situation, are there any recommendations needed but are missing and; c) what needs to happen to make sure that these recommendations are implemented so that positive improvements actually result.

Community Facilities

The rezoning proposes to introduce “educational establishment” as a permissible use into the 5,000 sqm community facilities part of the development. The EIS on page 94 spells out that this needs to be a school or a tertiary institution constituted by or under an Act. REDWatch is concerned that Stockland seems to be talking publicly about something less formal that does not need this change. REDWatch would not want to see space that could be used for local community activities given over to an external educational facility.  This is especially because there has been a lot of talk about what the community wants to see, but none of it is currently guaranteed. REDWatch would like to see people say what they want the redevelopment to deliver and for Stockland and Council to then cooperate about who will do what in their spaces. At the moment, because Council has not yet decided what it will do with the space it gets, it is easy for Stockland to make assumptions about what things the Council facility will do that will not happen.

Non-Residential space uses

REDWatch is concerned about the adequacy of the Retail Market Demand Assessment especially given the importance of the need for low cost retail to service the public housing community who are primarily on pensions and benefits. While a low-cost supermarket would go a long way towards servicing this cohort, there is also a need for other low-cost services and outlets – tenants complain about the recent loss of the cheap bread shop, the cheap greengrocer, bulk billing doctors and where to get a cheap haircut and perm.

The retail market demand assessment does not address this issue even though its figures show that 92% of social housing households have low incomes of under $52,000 per annum it does not look at what is necessary to service this part of the community in long term retail. It is clearly a desktop study with no input from locals about where they shop and why. It does not even distinguish between the lower cost full range supermarkets and the more expensive metro versions of the same brand. The Concept Plan needs to be able to guarantee there will be long-term low-cost facilities.

The Social Impact Management Plan makes some recommendations about what is needed to deliver “Improved retail access and diversity”. People should look at these and ask if they are adequate to move the impact from a “Low Negative” to a “High Positive”. With the approach to preserving diverse retail not mapped out, REDWatch remains concerned about Stockland’s proposal to move 2,000 sqm from non-resident, such as retail, to residential uses. Our concern is that if there is not enough non-residential space and effective mechanisms to reserve space for low-cost retail and community needs, that a shortage of space may lead to high rents and retail focusing increasingly on those who can pay more for goods and services.

Affordable Housing

REDWatch is keen to see all Affordable Housing in perpetuity. We are pleased to see that 7% remains in perpetuity and the undertaking in the EIS that the balance 13% will be for at least 25 years. If financing for an affordable housing block cannot be secured in perpetuity at the build stage REDWatch would like to see first right of refusal arrangements put into the contract so that if government policy has changed at the end of that period of at least 25 years or if the CHP has the financial capacity so it can acquire the stock in perpetuity at the end of the 25-year financing arrangement. There is a difference between the wording in the EIS and the design guide, which is not binding. To avoid ambiguity, REDWatch wants the development conditions to make all affordable housing based on a rent of no more than 30% of household income and managed by a CHP for both that which is in perpetuity and that guaranteed affordable for 25 years.

Design Excellence

REDWatch is concerned that the design excellence provisions are not following those of the City of Sydney for buildings over 35m. The project has committed to a tenure blind approach and yet the private buildings will have design excellence delivered by a design competition whereas for social and affordable housing, design excellence will be determined by a panel in response to a proposal put up by an invited architect. One other change proposed by the Concept is to allow the same architect to deliver more than one building on a block. In the 2022 proposal architects were limited to one building on a block to deliver diverse building designs.

Planning Controls and Concept

To date the comparisons drawn against the concept proposal have been the 2022 approval to which the Department of Planning added 10%. There has not yet been an external examination of the Stockland Concept. REDWatch is aware that Council has a range of concerns about the planning controls and the concept proposal, but we have not seen the details and given the time available we have not been able to form our own views. It will be interesting to find out more about Council’s concerns. The Department of Planning will need to assess these potentially competing views.

One document that it is reasonably easy to get an idea of the changes proposed is the proposed Revised Design Guide. To make this easy-to-follow Stockland has used the 2022 design guide and track changes, to remove what it wants to take out and add in. Here you can also see the changed diagrams against the 2022 versions and get a good idea of what is proposed to change and what is not by flicking through and looking at what is in red. Just remember the Design Guide is just a guide and it does not have the same binding effect as the zoning or what the Department approves or conditions.

We know we have just scratched the surface of the issues that could be explored, but hopefully if you have not had time to dive into the documents, this gives some ideas to work on.

On the REDWatch website you can also see the Counterpoint Submission on Waterloo Concept Plan May 2026, which will give you more ideas.

This information is extracted from a REDWatch email update issued on 28 May 2026.

On Monday 25 May the contractors started work to erect fencing and to undertake due diligence. The initial “Notice of Intention to Carry out Demolition Work” from the contractor lacked detail about what was happening and Homes NSW had to issue a follow up letter a couple of days later with a little more information. Homes NSW has been saying little about relocations and its issues so the information about numbers remaining have been conveyed verbally at meetings and are not in writing making what is happening with relocations very opaque and leaving room publicly for “eviction” and “demolishing buildings that still have people in them” narratives.

No one should be surprised that the demolition announcement has whipped up a reaction. After all, since the first notification 10 years ago, many tenants didn’t believe anything would happen, that changes when the demolition starts.

The demolition is also a focus for those with a myriad of concerns about the Waterloo South process. While many of the battles may have been lost for Waterloo South the demolition provides a focal point for political points to be made that protesters hope might influence this and future public housing decisions. This includes arguments about estate redevelopment vs new build on surplus government land and its associated impact on the housing waiting list, renovation vs knock-down and rebuild, arguments about if government or CHPs should run new housing, government funding of public housing vs the sell-off of government land. All these are valid concerns in the wider housing debate but they are also outside the current consultation parameters for Waterloo South. The issues did not go away and it shouldn’t be a surprise that imminent demolitions have provided a focus for them being raised.

In Waterloo these discussions are also very political because of statements before the last election about the ALP stopping the sell off of government land and the subsequent verbal gymnastics about what a sell off is or isn’t, alongside a lack of clarity about the contractual process. It is compounded because the public housing vote has been a strong supporter of local ALP MP Ron Hoenig so an opportunity to use his and the government’s missteps on public housing to weaken that grip is also in play.

The concern however is that political messages for effect often get articulated in exaggerated terms, and detail and nuance is lost. Photos for example of protesters taken in front of Matavai and Turanga use Waterloo public housing icons for a political message, but also draw protests from people living in those buildings as they are not impacted by the current demolitions, which are at the other end of the estate. The eviction language elicits images of people being put out on the street homeless and avoids the details that Homes NSW has to find places for the people needing to move, that people are being given choices of places to move to and time to make decisions about what best suits them.

Language is powerful and it can whip up people’s anxieties. In a public housing community that has concentrated people with a range of different issues we need to be mindful of the impact of how we talk about the redevelopment and protest so as not to unnecessarily whip up anxiety for Waterloo residents. Of course, that is difficult when the aim of the protest is to make the Government uncomfortable about its policy and practice.

REDWatch members reflect the community diversity and we have members involved in the current demolition protests and those who can’t see the development come soon enough. Given this diversity REDWatch has not lent its name to this action, but recognises the importance and validity of many of the issues being raised.

Geoff Turnbull, REDWatch Spokesperson 28 May 2026

Social Impact Assessment and Preliminary Social Impact Management Plan now available

REDWatch Meeting – Hear Stockland talk on Waterloo South Concept Plan - 7 May

Information and Support in understanding the Concept & making submissions

What is the Concept Plan and Rezoning?

Scoping Applications for Development Applications for Stage 1 Waterloo South Lodged

Waterloo South Concept public exhibition until Tuesday 2^nd June 2026 & Documents

The Concept State Significant Development and Rezoning Application have been placed on exhibition for 28 days until 2^nd June 2026. Tenants were advised last Friday via this Homes NSW notification to Waterloo tenants of Concept Plan Exhibition - 1 May 2026 in line with advising tenants first.

This exhibition covers all of Waterloo South. All official documents are accessible through the planning portal. Feedback on the proposal must also be made directly through the Planning Portal to the Department of Planning. It cannot be made via the Consortium or Homes NSW which cannot submit it on your behalf.

The Exhibition Documents can be found at Planning NSW - Waterloo Estate (South) Concept Exhibition. Printed versions of these reports can also be accessed at Waterloo Connect.

The key document is the Waterloo South Concept Environmental Impact Statement to which almost all the other documents are Appendices supplying additional information. The last Appendix KK contains the Rezoning Report with the Draft LEP Maps, Revised Design Guide, Connecting with Country Framework and Retail Market Demand Assessment.

REDWatch has put together the full list of the exhibition documents and links to them below:

• Waterloo South Concept Environmental Impact Statement
• Appendix A - SEARs Compliance Table
• Appendix B - Statutory Compliance Table
• Appendix C - Mitigation and Management Measures
• Appendix D - Community Consultation Table
• Appendix E - Assessment against Waterloo South Design Guide
• Appendix F - Urban Design Report
• Appendix F - Urban Design Report Appendices
• Appendix G - Survey Plan
• Appendix H - Draft Subdivision Plans
• Appendix I - Designing with Country Report
• Appendix J - Public Domain and Landscape Report
• Appendix K - CPTED Assessment
• Appendix L - Preliminary Public Art Plan
• Appendix M - Engagement Outcomes Report
• Appendix N - Design Excellence Strategy
• Appendix O - Environmental Wind Report
• Appendix P - Visual Impact Assessment
• Appendix Q - Arboricultural Impact Assessment
• Appendix R - BDAR Waiver
• Appendix S - DSI incl. Review of ORAP
• Appendix T - Remediation Action Plan
• Appendix U - Stormwater Management Plan
• Appendix V - Historical Archaeological Assessment
• Appendix W - Archaeological Technical Report
• Appendix X - Statement of Heritage Impact
• Appendix Y - ACHAR (Public)
• Appendix Z - Infrastructure Delivery and Staging Plan
• Appendix AA - Flood Impact and Risk Assessment
• Appendix BB - Preliminary Noise Vibration Impact Assessment
• Appendix CC - Transport Impact Assessment
• Appendix DD - Waste Management Plan
• Appendix EE Social Impact Assessment
• Appendix EE - Social Impact Management Plan
• Appendix FF - ESD Report
• Appendix GG - Aviation Impact Assessment
• Appendix HH - Accessibility Assessment
• Appendix II - EDC Summary Letter
• Appendix JJ - Concept Envelope Plans
• Appendix KK - Rezoning Report
• Appendix KK - Attach A - Draft LEP Maps
• Appendix KK - Attach B - Revised Design Guide
• Appendix KK - Attach C - Connecting with Country Framework
• Appendix KK - Attach D - Retail Market Demand Assessment
• Application_20260417053618

At the top of the exhibition page is a link to “Make a submission”. Submissions are supposed to be made online by setting up an account in the Planning Portal if you don’t have one. If you can’t access online then ask for support from one of the agencies like Counterpoint or from representatives from the Department of Planning. Department of Planning representatives at the Stockland information sessions will have a form that can be used by those that cannot make electronic submissions. There is also a general guide on how to make submissions.

While the consortium will hold some information sessions they stand to benefit from the outcome and hence are not permitted to collect and submit feedback. Submissions must be made directly to the Department of planning. After all the input from the community and other agencies, like Council, is received, the Consortium will have a chance to provide a response and change things before the Department of Planning makes a final decision on the proposal.

This is the official media statement. The SMH reported the exhibition in Hundreds of inner Sydney homes to be bulldozed for 3300 units. The initial SMH article wrongly said the first units would not be delivered until 2035 but this has subsequently been corrected to 2030 as confirmed by Stockland at the REDWatch meeting.

Social Impact Assessment and Preliminary Social Impact Management Plan now available

Two important Concept Plan documents, from REDWatch’s perspective, can be found in Appendix EE of exhibition documents. These are the Social Impact Assessment and the Preliminary Social Impact Management Plan. These reports specifically to look at the potential impacts both good and bad of the development on the surrounding community, especially the public housing community and what needs to happen to manage impacts. These reports also deal with some of the issues raised in Homes NSW’s People and Place Plan. This report was not available during the pre-lodgement consultation, so this will be the first time we get to look at these “people” parts of the redevelopment.

We have asked the Consortium to talk to these reports at the 7 May REDWatch meeting as well as providing an overview of the Concept proposal. REDWatch encourages people to look at these reports and raise any issues of concern.

REDWatch Meeting – Hear Stockland talk on Waterloo South Concept Plan - 7 May

The Concept Plan is on exhibition and the May 7 REDWatch meeting will do an initial unpack of the Waterloo South Concept Plan for tenants and the community. Given a short 28 days exhibition this will be a two-hour meeting dealing with both the built environment proposal as well as with the Social Impact Assessment (SIA). The SIA looks at the people impacts from the redevelopment as part of the exhibition and this information was not available during the pre-exhibition consultations.

This is a public meeting and everyone is welcome. You can join the meeting in person on 7 May from 6:00 pm at Counterpoint’s Factory Community Centre, 67 Raglan Street, Waterloo or join us on line by Zoom http://tinyurl.com/RedwatchMeetingZoom.

REDWatch meets at the local Community Centre and is pleased to celebrate Neighbourhood Centre Week in May as your place to connect.

Information and Support in understanding the Concept & making submissions

The consortium has revamped its Waterloo Partnership website at www.waterloorenewal.com.au and this site contains some high-level information on the Concept Proposal including some updated maps and Q&As. REDWatch suggests you have a look at this site.

The Consortium have produced a Community Guide to the Concept Application and Rezoning, Please note that this guide is not part of the formal application. The Consortium have produced it as an overview that might be helpful for people wanting to understand what is in the concept proposal however in the case of omissions or differences the exhibited documents are what need to be addressed, primarily the Waterloo South Concept Environmental Impact Statement.

Homes NSW has also updated its Waterloo South site to cover the exhibition.  The Consortium will also hold some information sessions (see details later in this update).

It should be noted that Homes NSW and the Consortium have prepared the 40+ documents in this exhibition and hence have their material available at the beginning of the exhibition. Independent assessment however will take longer for groups like REDWatch, services agencies like Counterpoint and City of Sydney Council which need to read and digest the reports before being able to raise any issues of concern. With this exhibition being only 28 days it is likely that even Council, with its dedicated planning staff will be unable to finalise its assessment within that time, let alone service providers and voluntary groups. As a result, concerns may only emerge from these independent organisations towards the end of the exhibition.

So please look out for later statements from community groups about concerns they think should be raised and please also feed any concerns you have from looking at the documents back to these independent parties to inform their comments and submissions.

Counterpoint Community Services, Redfern Legal Centre and Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation have been funded by Council to provide independent advice and support during relocations and the redevelopment.

With many events during May there will be lots of opportunities to people to discuss concerns with workers independent of Homes NSW and the Consortium. Counterpoint in its newsletter says “You can chat with Counterpoint staff at any of our centres or at these events: Community Centre Week events; Volunteer Awards; Pet Day; and other neighbourhood activities across Waterloo. These are informal opportunities to ask questions, share concerns, or get help finding the right information”.

In this update REDWatch has not sought to assess the proposal. REDWatch will post material it becomes aware of on www.redwatch.org.au and / or issue an email update.

Here are some opportunities to attend activities which will focus on the Concept Plan (please note Events on 12 May and 26 May have been bought forward half an hour on earlier times  to minimise conflicts with other activities that these event overlap).

• Thursday 7 May – REDWatch Meeting with Stockland on the Plan 6-8pm The Factory 67 Raglan Street Waterloo or on line via http://tinyurl.com/RedwatchMeetingZoom. You can see recording of this session at https://youtu.be/LqLmw_IjSWg
• Monday 11 May – Consortium Service Provider Briefing from 3pm to 4pm
• Tuesday 12 May – Consortium in person 10 am to 12.30pm (lunch included) Waterloo Neighbourhood Centre 95 Wellington Street (opposite OzHarvest)
• Saturday 16 May – Consortium Drop-in 10am to 12pm Chinese and Russian language interpreters will be available during this time
• Monday 18 May – Consortium Online session - 5pm to 6.30pm Register via the project website or email the Consortium for the meeting link
• Wednesday 20 May – Waterloo Redevelopment Group 2pm The Factory, 67 Raglan St, Waterloo
• Tuesday 26 May – Consortium morning tea with the team - Drop in between 10am and 12.30pm at Waterloo Connect Shop 2, 95 Wellington St (opposite OzHarvest) to speak to the team.
• Monday to Friday during exhibition – Consortium Drop-in to Waterloo Connect Shop 2, 95 Wellington St, Waterloo (opposite OzHarvest) or Connect with Homes NSW and the Consortium by calling 1800 997 318 Email: hello@waterloorenewal.com.au

What is the Concept Plan and Rezoning?

The total floorspace for this site was set in 2022. During the pre-lodgement consultation the developer, Stockland, discussed the need to change how that floorspace is distributed, changing heights and creating more ground level space, as well as showing where different sorts of housing go. This exhibition will change the planning controls that Stockland will then build within. Even though 10% design excellence bonus was added on top of the expected 3,000 units in the development in 2022 it has taken until now for Homes NSW and the Consortium to use the 3,300-unit figure. Even this is an estimate, as the planning controls divide the floorspace between tenures, not the number of units so how many units are delivered for that floor space will be determined by later planning.

The submission of the Concept Proposal to the Department of Planning says the proposal expects Waterloo South to provide 5650 rooms holding 7,000 people with a delivery cost excluding GST of AUD2,231,118,316.00. The development is expected to provide 1,781 construction jobs and 600 operation jobs.

The exhibition will show how the heights and floorspace distribution changes proposed differ from the approved 2022 controls. It will also include other information such as the distribution of different types of housing tenure, staging etc. Stockland has undertaken pre-lodgement consultation with tenants showing what it was considering, so there should be few major surprises in the key elements of the exhibited plan for those who were involved in the earlier consultation.

The formal exhibition does include a lot of unseen technical studies that are likely to be of interest. They cover wind, sun, shadowing. environmental issues, social impacts etc. (see full list earlier in this email)

You can also find out more about the concept application and zoning in Q&As on the Consortium’s  Concept Application and Rezoning page.

You can see Stockland presentation to REDWatch of the Concept Plan on YouTube at https://youtu.be/LqLmw_IjSWg

Scoping Applications for Development Applications for Stage 1 Waterloo South Lodged

The Homes NSW Waterloo Project website has been updated to advise that while this exhibition is underway, three scoping reports have been lodged with the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure to obtain the Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs) for early works, Block 8 and Block 9. The SEARs will set out what studies must be completed and which stakeholders and community members must be consulted. Early engagement with the community will begin soon, to help inform the detailed applications.

REDWatch - Updated 9 May 2026