Sources say that plans to build 1,000 new homes on the 114-hectare Springside Hill area west of Kiama are far from over, as the NSW government will refresh housing targets for each NSW council by around 1 July.

The Minns Government will direct councils to scrap their growth strategies and approve housing developments to help the state reach its target of building 315,000 new homes over the next five years – a target which it is failing to meet.

A target which, in part, like those in America, have been blocked by ‘NIMBY’ petitions and anti-development councils.

Last year, Premier Minns said he was not going to “rule anything out” if councils fell short of the 76,000 dwellings per year to be built under the National Housing Accord.

The Commonwealth, states and territories agreed under the 2023 Accord to build 1.2 million homes over five years from mid 2024.

Minns has the power to remove planning consent from chronically underperforming councils and hand it to the Secretary of the Department of Planning.

The local ‘Cows not Concrete’ action group used the fear of environmental degradation to gather signatures on a petition to stop the Springside Hill proposal.

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Springside Hill development proposal. Credit: Mecone

Kiama Mayor Neil Reilly said it wasn't just the councillors against the plan, but also 642 residents who put their names on the ‘Cows or Concrete’ petition.

“I think council and the legislation regarding planning is on the side of those 600 people-plus,” he told the Illawarra Mercury.

The Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Paul Scully, said that Councils and developers must work together and find well-located housing for people who desperately need access to homes.

In a rebuke of Kiama Council’s recent development rejection, Minister Scully said, “any local plans must go beyond the NSW Government’s housing expectations, not backwards”.

Chief Executive Officer of Traders in Purple, Brett Robinson, said the Springside Hill development would create approximately 1,200 full time jobs. Many of those jobs will be filled by local apprentices and tradespeople. He said the development will create more than $180m in Gross Regional Product as a result of construction alone.

“Our 25 percent guarantee, in partnership with Housing Trust, can help to keep locals local by providing homes the average worker can afford to buy or rent, not in the far distant future but by 2027,” Mr Robinson said.

“It is heartening to hear the Council say they want to hear from a diverse range of people, especially those they don’t normally hear from. Equally, it’s quite disheartening to hear them champion a petition that values a passing view of cows more than the aspirations for home ownership for the current and next generation.”

Chief Executive Officer of Housing Trust, Michele Adair, believes that we need to build homes in new places in new ways.

“Council knows that an additional 2,000 homes are needed to accommodate population growth. The location of these homes needs to be discussed with courage, common sense and compassion,” she said.

“If councils aren't proactive about meeting their supply targets, they shouldn't be surprised when the state government imposes initiatives to ensure the housing needs of their communities are adequately addressed.”

Last year, Council’s Director of Planning, Environment and Communities, Jessica Rippon, said affordable housing, “was an idea whose time had come”.

“The Australian and NSW Government have begun housing reforms with ambitious targets. Kiama Council, and our community, will be required to play a part … We need to lead this process, rather than having development forced upon us,” she said. 

As the NSW government’s patience wears thin, development may be forced upon it.