The New South Wales government has scrapped the Greater Cities Commission [GCC] nearly 12 months after deciding Kiama would be a part of a new ‘Illawarra-Shoalhaven City.’

Premier Chris Minns said the decision was made to reduce overlap and duplication of finite public resources, specifically when it comes to planning and building more houses in the state.

“There’s no point having housing targets if you can’t deliver the housing,” Premier Minns said in a statement. “This is about ensuring we have the right team in place to deliver the housing and infrastructure we so critically need in this state.”

The GCC was established by the Liberal Party, with Labor’s support, under former Premier Mike Baird, and was intended to coordinate planning across the state to identify locations for jobs and houses, as well as setting housing targets for 43 local councils. 

The intent was to transform Sydney into a ‘global city’ rivalling California’s Bay Area, Greater London and Netherlands’ Randstad. Last year, the commission rebranded to include Wollongong/Illawarra-Shoalhaven in its remit, which would have stretched from Wollongong down to Batemans Bay.

At the same time, Jacki Johnson was selected as Commissioner for the area. She will continue to assist the NSW Department of Planning and Environment with metro planning, along with the other five Commissioners. The near-350 staff working for GCC will also be redeployed within the Department of Planning and Environment.

Planning Minister Paul Scully said the planning process had become too confusing from having too many agencies with overlapping responsibilities. 

The NSW Productivity Commission also claimed that the reason houses cost more in NSW is because there are fewer homes built in the state, which is why the Department of Planning is shifting its attention towards removing red tape.

The Government estimates that NSW will require 900,000 additional homes by 2041, but expects a shortfall of 134,000 at the current rate. It also claims planning process times have blown out from 69 days on average in July 2021 to 116 days by March 2023.

The Government Statement also said the decision to axe the GCC was the start of a renewed focus on project delivery, outlining its agenda to boost housing supplies across the state:

• Reforming infrastructure contributions so that roads, schools, health services and open spaces are delivered in a more timely manner
• Providing additional support for the development and assessment of social and affordable housing
• Creating changes for market development to increase the amount of housing delivered on private land as well as public land
• Auditing surplus government land that could be used for housing
• Expanding the role of Landcom [NSW Government’s land and property development organisation]
• Improving building quality by establishing the NSW Building Commission
• Making renting fairer while providing surety to property owners.

Work will continue on building Bradfield, the ‘third CBD’ proposed near Western Sydney Airport, but management of the project will be led by the Department of Planning and Environment rather than the Western Parkland City Authority, which will also be folded into the Department.