Opinion

In 2021, The Bugle reported strong criticism of Kiama Council’s failure to respond to the region’s growing housing affordability crisis.

At the time, Michele Adair, Chief Executive Officer of The Housing Trust, gave Council an “F” for its lack of action, arguing essential workers were being priced out of the community.

Kiama Council’s new Draft Local Housing Strategy Version 2 is now on public exhibition but does it deliver on the promise of affordable housing?

The answer is mixed.

On the positive side, the draft strategy clearly acknowledges affordability is a major issue in the municipality.

It notes the region’s high purchase and rental costs, and the pressures faced by key workers, older residents and young families.

It outlines potential tools councils can use, such as partnerships with community housing providers, use of Council-owned land, and planning mechanisms including inclusionary zoning. 

It also includes a specific action to develop and adopt an Affordable Housing Policy and implementation framework.

Kiama Council has confirmed it is investigating potential partnerships with community housing providers on “appropriate catalyst sites”. 

It also points to planning controls, such as the limited height allowances in R3 medium density zones, as a barrier to larger-scale mixed-tenure projects, like those being trialled elsewhere.

“Scale is required to achieve mixed tenure,” a Council spokesperson said. 

“Our draft strategy includes an action to review planning controls associated with the R3 zone to increase feasibility of mid-rise and small-unit development.”

As for the absence of clear targets or land allocations, Council says this is under investigation during the draft’s public exhibition phase. It notes affordable housing targets often apply to large-scale developments (over 50 dwellings), which are uncommon in Kiama, but concedes that “every little bit helps”.

Still, for many advocates, the strategy may not go far enough.

There are no affordable housing targets in the current draft, no committed partnerships or earmarked parcels of land.

Council has also not identified funding sources to support delivery, leaving the strategy without a clear implementation pathway.

In contrast, other parts of the state are already showing what is possible.

Charlie Daoud, a board member of The Man Walk and a developer specialising in social and affordable housing, spoke to The Bugle at the recent Man Walk gala about the success of his Northsea Apartments, Wollongong project.

This development is the first in Australia to integrate social, affordable, and private housing within a single building, using shared entrances, communal areas, and consistent design standards throughout.

“There are no red doors,” he said. “You do not know who lives where, and that is the point.It breaks the stigma.”

Daoud argues that models like his should work everywhere, including places like Kiama. 

“Why can’t it be in suburban streets? Beautiful design, great landscaping, heritage context - done well, it fits in.”

He is now working with the NSW Government to transform older housing estates into mixed-tenure neighbourhoods where social housing is integrated among private dwellings, revitalising communities without isolating people.

Adair’s comments from 2021 remain relevant. “What the Local Strategic Planning Statement says is that whoever wrote this statement believes the barista making their coffee, someone changing the sheets in the Sebel, none of these people can live in the Kiama community.”

While the updated strategy marks a shift in tone and acknowledges housing stress more clearly than past documents, critics may find it too cautious.

For now, it reads more like a preface than a plan.

If you want to shape the future of housing in our area, now is the time. You can read the draft strategy and make a submission by visiting Council’s website. Submissions close Sunday 27 April.

And if you do not feel the engagement process is strong enough, it is your right to raise that with your elected councillors.

Housing affects all of us. So should the way we talk about it.