The Coffs Harbour Council is working with the NSW Government to redevelop social housing within a local Estate.
The Council has endorsed a draft amendment to the Coffs Harbour Local Environmental Plan (LEP) to help with the Argyll Estate project.
The Estate is an area of low-density housing near Bray Street in which the majority of properties are owned by the NSW Government and used for social housing. Many of these social housing properties are over 50 years old and are reaching the end of their useful life.
The NSW Government plans to redevelop the social housing within the Estate to provide a variety of new homes for families and individuals.
To do this the current zoning needs to be changed from low to medium density to allow for additional housing types such as residential apartment buildings, townhouses and dual occupancies.
Councillors have now endorsed a draft planning proposal to amend the existing zoning in the LEP. The draft amendment has been developed through a joint investigation of the subject area and initial community and stakeholder consultation carried out by Council and the NSW Government.
Council’s endorsement of the draft planning proposal is conditional upon the NSW Government providing information on how they will redevelop social housing in the estate and any mechanisms for delivering additional social housing. This information will be made available during public exhibition of the draft planning proposal.
“We’re very conscious of the need to help address housing demand in the Coffs Harbour local government area, particularly in regard to social and low-cost housing,” said Sharon Smith, Council’s Section Leader Local Planning.
“The NSW Government’s proposal to increase the number and diversity of homes in the Argyll Estate is consistent with Council’s adopted Local Growth Management Strategy and the NSW Government’s Regional City Action Plan for Coffs Harbour.”
The next step is for the draft LEP amendment to be sent to the NSW Department of Planning and Environment for initial assessment. Pending a positive response from the Department of Planning, further community consultation on the draft amendment will be undertaken most likely in July and August 2022.
