Council is currently preparing a Housing Strategy. This aims to identify areas suitable for the provision of additional housing to assist in meeting its housing obligations into the future.
In 2005, the State Government released the Metropolitan Strategy which is intended to facilitate and manage growth and development in Sydney over the next 25 years. The Metropolitan Strategy groups Sydney into ten subregions. Hornsby Council has been grouped with Ku-ring-gai Council to form the North Subregion.
Under the Metropolitan Strategy, the North Subregion is required to provide opportunities for an additional 21,000 dwellings over the next 25 years.
Hornsby Council is responsible for providing just over half (11,000) of these new dwellings.
In selecting suitable areas for consideration for additional housing, Council has adopted a process of investigation responsive to the provisions of the Metropolitan Strategy and the State Government’s draft North Subregional Strategy. The process of investigation includes consideration of all lands within Hornsby Shire based on agreed criteria, including proximity to commercial centres and transport nodes, economic feasibility, existing dwelling mix, and the absence of environmental constraints.
Council has engaged consultants in the areas of urban design, economic feasibility, traffic modelling and environmental analysis to assist with the preparation of its Housing Strategy.
The Housing Strategy will provide opportunities for economic stimulus and rejuvenation of commercial centres through its consideration of increased populations within proximity of key existing commercial centres.
Increasing populations near existing centres has
the potential to increase social vitality and expenditure within a centre, thereby improving opportunities within the centre for long term economic sustainability.
It is anticipated that the draft Housing Strategy will be placed on public exhibition in early 2009.
