'Common sense' after federal anti-tower housing drive

It's "completely logical" that part of a state's flagship solution to solve the housing crisis has been dumped after opposition from a federal cabinet minister, a Labor colleague says. Masterplans were rolled out on Monday for seven transport centres the NSW government hopes will deliver nearly 60,000 homes and more than 126,000 commercial and retail jobs across Sydney. All have undergone accelerated rezonings and will accommodate high- and mid-rise homes within about 1200 metres of train and metro stations. The plan represents one of the main schemes introduced under the Minns Labor government to meet the state's nationally agreed target of 377,000 new homes in the five years to 2029. But two suburbs that could have delivered up to 16,000 more homes were quietly dropped after community fears, stoked by an Albanese government minister. NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully defended the change when asked if it was focused on helping Communications Minister Michelle Rowland retain her outer-suburban seat in the next election. He said Stanhope Gardens and Glenwood were mostly covered by community title, which allowed developments to be vetoed by one person in opposition. "It's completely logical (to drop the suburbs), because it wasn't possible, right?" Mr Scully told reporters. "There's no point pretending to do a rezoning that's not actually going to deliver houses. "People want houses. People need houses, and that's what we're aiming to deliver out of this." A petition from Ms Rowland demanded the two suburbs, adjacent to two metro stops in northwest Sydney, be excluded from more housing "until the infrastructure catches up". She said the community was already fed up with bumper-to-bumper traffic. Blacktown City Council Mayor Brad Bunting hailed the change as a win for the community and common sense. The revised zone around Bella Vista and Kellyville, next to Stanhope Gardens and Kellyville, included a dramatically reduced number of potential new homes, from 20,700 to 4600. The paring back of the seven zones follows a suite of recent moves to accelerate housing, including a new three-person panel to fast-track large project approvals. But the Property Council warned that site-specific issues were holding developments back. "In many locations, improvements have been made to affordable housing and density levels which is very welcome, but in others, projects have lost hundreds of potential dwellings overnight - including affordable homes," Property Council NSW executive director Katie Stevenson. "That's a major concern." Three per cent of the residential floor space in the new zones will be dedicated to permanent affordable housing. The government had previously flagged it could be up to 15 per cent. The new target "feels modest ... but it's a big step forward," the Committee for Sydney said. "Parks, schools, libraries, and public spaces are critical for ensuring these new neighbourhoods remain liveable and resilient for generations to come, and we hope they've been factored in," planning policy manager Estelle Grech said.