As I contemplate running as an independent candidate for Council, I know that executing a housing strategy that serves our community must be right up there as a priority. The draft housing strategy has given me pause to reflect that in the last 16 years, since I returned to the area I grew up in, the Kiama LGA has changed a lot. It is certainly bigger, more vibrant and dynamic and I wouldn’t wish to turn back the clock.

Expansion however brings challenges too - for transport and parking, water and sewerage and pressures on schools and community facilities not to mention the impact on the extraordinary natural and agricultural environment we have around us. So, it’s natural that we want to protect what we have. After all, the last thing we want to see is a degradation in the character of our district. On the other hand, change will happen whether we like it or not. 

We are indeed left with a choice - either to lead change or to allow change to happen to us. 

We are required by the Minns government to build at least 900 dwellings by 2029 or risk being stripped of planning powers by an administrator. The Kiama Municipal Council Local Government Area (LGA) is expected to grow by over a third in the next twenty years! With a projected 3,456 new dwellings required. Clearly, careful and strategic oversight is required by our community so that we get the infrastructure and services we need, so that we balance out the competing interests for land use, so that we meet the diverse needs of the community.

We can’t make the same mistakes of the past. For instance, we simply haven’t been constructing the types of dwellings that our community needs. Small households such as couples without children comprise 49 percent of the total. Yet only 17 percent of the dwellings are 2-bedroom or smaller. The effect is that this chokes out young starters, elderly, people living on their own and service workers from having more affordable housing options to consider. So, it’s clear that one challenge is that we need more smaller dwelling styles that meet the needs of the community. 

In addressing another challenge, there is the opportunity to assist smaller villages like Jamberoo to become more resilient, independent and self-sufficient with a population that provides better scale. Thus, supporting a more stable business community, such as a pharmacist for instance and providing for better childcare, jobs and services.

In my opinion, the draft housing strategy is high level and conceptual but is a great start to providing our community with the strategic direction it needs. I think we would all agree that ad hoc development should be a thing of the past. It has resulted typically in a highly politically charged planning process involving rolling bouts of proponent vs opponent - it must be a thing of the past.

Like many, I have found the over-politicised nature of planning decisions quite tedious. Accordingly, if elected I would give deep consideration to the establishment of a Kiama specific Independent Hearing and Assessment Panel IHAP to take the politics out of planning decisions for high value and/or sensitive developments. The aim would be to de-politicise potentially contentious projects so that they can be assessed on their merits such as technical compliance, efficiency, consistency with housing strategy, community benefit, fairness and transparency. Council would still have charge of regular straightforward DAs and overall strategic planning.

If we are to grow, critical infrastructure is key. However, through a lack of strategic planning in the past, we have too often been left with the dregs of State and Federal funding. It is expected that NSW Councils will receive $1 billion over 10 years to provide infrastructure but we are currently hopelessly underprepared to take our fair share. We are going to need extensive planning and preparedness to provide transport, electricity, sewer, reticulated water and social infrastructure that a growing region needs for its future.

This Council needs a priority-list of critical community infrastructure that needs focus and funding because new infrastructure won’t happen by itself. We need to follow the lead of councils like Shellharbour in a strategic plan of essential infrastructure projects for our LGA and advance them to shovel ready status. Its typically referred to by other councils as an “advocacy plan”, it may not surprise you to learn that Kiama Council has no such plan, but we do have some resolutions with dot points. It’s not good enough. 

We need to be at the front of the queue with the work done and our hand out ready to pounce on State and/or Federal funding when it is announced and be competitive in those assessment processes. We must put ourselves in a position to win because it is important that development and infrastructure are built, planned and delivered concurrently.

My number is 0413 584 464 if you have thoughts or suggestions, I am all ears.

Mike Cains