Waterloo South Stage 1

Waterloo South tenants living in the two block surrounded by John, Cope, McEvoy, and Mead Street to the South of the estate were hand delivered relocation notices on 27 February advising them that they will be relocated within the next six months.

This is a draft proposal from OFFICE that was shown to people on 5th April at the BBQ held by OFFICE of how the Waterloo high-rises could be refurbished and in-fill buildings included around them to meet the Waterloo redevelopment goals stated for Central and Northern areas of Waterloo Estate. You can provide feedback on this proposal to hello@OFFICE.org.au - The RRR project is independent from Homes NSW and separate to the redevelopment plans for Waterloo South. Homes NSW say that it will be many years before they develop this area and 10 years before people have to relocate.

The following media statement was released to announce the signing of the of contracts for the redevelopment of Waterloo South on 10 April 2025

The article below was produced for the South Sydney Herald and it sets out what has been learnt about the Waterloo South Redevelopment now that the Consortium and Homes NSW have finalised their redevelopment agreement. On 3rd June 2025 it is hoped that more information will become available when the Consortium presents to a REDWatch public meeting.

REDWatch Spokesperson, Geoff Turnbull, was asked to join a panel for the Australian Architecture Conference 2025 in May. The panel was titled “Shaping Perspectives: How Architects Lead Public Opinion” and included Emma Williamson, Government Architect Western Australia; UTS A/Prof H.Y. William Chan ex City of Sydney Councillor; Jocelyn Chiew former Director City Design at City of Melbourne; and Michelle Tabet from Left Bankj Co. Below is Geoff’s 5 minute input to the panel based on his experience in Redfern-Waterloo.

These questions were prepared by REDWatch following a call out for what people wanted to know now the Consortium agreement has been finalised with Homes NSW. These questions are being circulated prior to the proposed REDWatch Meeting on June 5th 2025 where Homes NSW and the Consortium partners have been invited to brief the community on the proposal and the approach agreed between Homes NSW and the Consortium.

On 5th June 2025 REDWatch organised a meeting around the next steps in the Waterloo redevelopment. We invited the consortium to brief the community and encouraged the community to bring their questions. The material below was circulated in the REDWatch email update before the meeting to provide the local community and the Consortium with some background prior to the meeting.

This is a PDF of the presentation made by Homes NSW and Stockland to the REDWatch meeting on 5th June 2025. While 8 weeks had lapsed since the signing of the agreement, many logistics remained to be worked out between Stockland and Homes NSW. As a result the presentation lacked the detail REDWatch had hoped for but it did enable initial conversations to occur between Stockland and informed Waterloo community members.

At the 5 June 2025 REDWatch meeting with Homes NSW and Stockland, REDWatch provided a quick presentation on "Waterloo South Redevelopment: What is already in place". This presentation was updated for the 18 June Waterloo Redevelopment Group. This is a PDF of that presentation that reminds people of what was put in place in November 2022 when the Planning Proposal was approved as well as what has changed since that time. This is a starting point for assessing what happens next with Homes NSW and Stockland.

Back in 2019 Sydney Local Health District (SLHD) did a Waterloo Health Impact Assessment (HIA) with a focus on impact of redevelopment announcements and relocations. There were a number of tenants involved along with some NGOs (including REDWatch), Council, SLHD, Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) and Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC). When the HIA was being finalised DCJ and LAHC met with SLHD and wanted a number of changes which were made. One of those was to change the report name from Health Impact Assessment to Healthy Waterloo. The final report then went up to the Health Secretary for sign off but the DCJ Secretary pushed for report not to be issued and there it sat in limbo until it was shaken out in 2025. This post links to the final report.

This is a PDF of the presentation made by Stockland to the REDWatch meeting on 7th August 2025. This presentation provides a high level view of what Stockland have committed to and they expect during October November to start detailed consultation with the community about their plans. The presentation is not commercial in confidence that was there in error.

This presentation on Waterloo South by Stockland provides an overview of Stockland's commitments for Waterloo South as well as an planning and design update on how Stockland plan to manage consultations and applications over the next year or so. It is aimed at people with an understanding of the planning system and provides a base for the upcoming Concept Plan consultation on planning and design. The file is a 2.2 MB 30 page PDF.

With the release of the Stockland and Homes NSW Scoping Proposal for a Rezoning and Concept SSDA for Waterloo Estate (South), we have our first detailed look at some of the changes the Homes NSW and the Stockland consortium wished to make to the proposal in the outlined in the 2022 rezoning and how they plan to proceed. This is a snapshot of what Stockland proposed on 20 August 2025 to Planning NSW and thinking may have changed since this document as a result of further work and consultation.

Below REDWatch has outlined some issues that tenants and the broader community might like to consider as they prepare for the consultations in late October 2025 about the Concept Plan and zoning changes proposed by the Stockland consortium. This document will be updated as issues arise and as more information becomes available. The date of the latest changes is shown at the bottom of this page.

The Waterloo South People and Place Plan provides a high-level outline of key recommendations to help deliver positive outcomes for Waterloo people and places. There were a number of changes made to the recommendations in the final version. Many of those changes softened the recommendations by qualifying language as well as removing recommendations relating to access to affordable health care and the need for low cost or free options for community spaces and and shops. This document is produced from a text comparison by REDWatch of the recommendations proposed in the Draft 2024 People and Place Plan with the Final released in October 2025 and shows all changes.

Stockland will release a draft Concept Plan for Waterloo South in late October 2025 for pre-lodgement consultation. In preparation for the consultation, REDWatch has pulled together background material about this more detailed Concept Plan, what it covers and some of the issues that will need to be considered. This document brings together material REDWatch and Stockland have previously made public as well as the latest consultation information.

REDWatch has analysed the changes made by Homes NSW in its final high-level Waterloo South People and Place Plan released 16 October 2025. Of major concern is the removal of recommendations on access to affordable health care and the need for low cost or free options for community spaces and shops. Other recommendations have had language watered down such as earlier "deliver" replaced with "explore" - you can see all the changes in a document comparison. The plan remains only for Waterloo South rather than dealing with the entire estate, however there has been an improvement in demographic figures where they more closely reflect Waterloo South rather than all of Waterloo.

The Stockland Consortium have released an outline of the Waterloo South Concept Plan on its website. Below REDWatch has provided the text and links from that website along with some initial comments.

This is a combined PDF of the maps made available by the Stockland Consortium for the 2025 consultation. Each map is currently linked to individually on www.waterloorenewal.com.au REDWatch will update this compilation if more maps become public.

Attachment is notice including four maps of the proposed demolition of buildings in Waterloo South, Stage 1 that has been distributed to tenants and those around the site. All feedback on the proposed demolition needs to be received by Wednesday 10 December to CommunityEngagement@homes.nsw.gov.au . This is the only opportunity to comment on the demolition as Homes NSW are notifying it as a Review of Environmental Factors (REF) which is an environmental impact assessment conducted by Homes NSW itself that does not require public exhibition. The final documents will be posted on line after approval. Homes NSW also indicate that two buildings on John Street may be used for temporary housing as meanwhile use.