The NSW
Government has signed contracts to develop the first stage of the Waterloo
South Renewal Project with the Stockland,
Link
Wentworth Housing, City
West Housing and Birribee
Housing Consortium. At the media conference on April 10 2025, Managing
Director and CEO of Stockland, Tarun Gupta said he expected construction to
start in 2027 and to start delivering new homes in 2031.
The Waterloo
redevelopment website says the “project will deliver more than 1,000 new
social homes, over 600 affordable homes and around 1,500 private homes in a
mixed and integrated community”. The announcement shows an increase of 100
social housing units over earlier Homes NSW requirements for 30 per cent of 3,000
to be social housing and 20 per cent affordable housing. This also pushes the
number of home units delivered up from 3,000 to 3,100. It is not currently
known how these extra social housing homes will be delivered within the
planning controls.
The government’s
requirements have also been exceeded in the delivery of an additional 5 per
cent of social housing homes dedicated to Aboriginal people. Dedicated
Aboriginal housing now is 20 per cent of social and 15 per cent of affordable
housing. It has been confirmed that Birribee Housing, the Aboriginal Community
Housing (CHP) provider, will manage both Aboriginal social and affordable
housing leaving open the possibility of movement between the two tenure types
without changing landlord and hopefully while being able to stay in the same
house. It has also been confirmed that Aboriginal tenants will continue to be
housed in the non-Aboriginal controlled CHPs if they wish.
One area of
community concern that the Minister left open to bidders in August 2023 was the
possibility that the affordable housing might not be in perpetuity. We
understand that the plan is for all affordable housing to be in perpetuity
although funding to make this possible has not yet been finalised.
Reaching this
point has been a long drawn-out process starting in July 2022 with an
Expression of Interest (EOI) process. The EOI requirements were modified in
August 2023 by adding requirements for 50 per cent social and affordable
housing by the new Labor Government. A preferred tender was announced in August
2024 and since then final contract negotiations have been underway.
Much to the
frustration of both the community and consortium partners, consortium members have
been contractually bound not to talk to community members or community
organisations about the project. Finally consortium members can talk directly
to the community about the redevelopment.
No details have
been released about what has been agreed between Homes NSW and the Consortium. It
is not known, for example, how a Homes NSW People and Place Plan, dealing with human
services issues related to the redevelopment, has been handled in the Consortium
agreement. That plan was roundly criticised by community groups when exhibited
and has not re-emerged. Consortium members and Homes NSW have been invited to a
REDWatch meeting on Thursday 5 June to present the proposal and answer
questions.
With
contracts now finalised, the project will progress to the next phase, including
site investigations, planning approvals and ongoing community engagement,
alongside the staged tenant relocations already underway. It is expected
planning approvals will take about 2 years.
With echoes
of the rationale for the Metro coming to Waterloo rather than Sydney
University, Minister Jackson, at the media conference, used the Waterloo
redevelopment as a good example of Transit Orientated Development (TOD)
delivering more density with well-located homes and said they would be taking
advantage of any and all instruments to build for the demand.
Prior to the
consortium announcement Minister Jackson met with some of the tenants being
relocated from Waterloo South Stage One into the new social housing above
Waterloo Metro that will be run by Link Wentworth. At the announcement the
Minister emphasised that the redevelopment was about better homes for social
housing tenants and not just about more homes.
You can see
the statements about this announcement at the following links by the agreement
parties: NSW
Government Media Release; Waterloo
South Renewal Project web page; Stockland,
Link
Wentworth Housing, City
West Housing and Birribee
Housing.
Photo: Waterloo South Players new and old. L to R Paul Coe – CEO of
Birribee Housing, Leonie King – CEO of
City West Housing, Andrew McAnulty – CEO
of Link Wentworth, Tarun Gupta – Managing Director and CEO of Stockland, Famey
Williams – CE Aboriginal Housing Office, Michael Wheatley – Head of Housing
Portfolio Homes NSW and Rose Jackson – NSW Minister for Housing and Homelessness.
Photo Geoff Turnbull.