29-05-2025
With Rosehill scratched where else can Sydney build? Here are seven prime locations
High-rise blocks in Woollahra? Convert Glebe Island for housing instead of ships? Move Long Bay Jail? Build on Callan park?
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has promised to unveil a 'Plan B' to repair the hole punched in his government's housing blueprint after members of the Australian Turf Club voted against selling the Rosehill racecourse site to make way for 25,000 new homes.
The loss of the envisioned mini-city at Rosehill leaves the state government scrambling to address the city's housing crisis.
Earlier in the week Minns said he was disappointed but not put off by the failure of the Rosehill proposal.
'It is important to test these things, even if the risk is failure, because the task in front of us when it comes to housing in NSW is so monumental that we cannot just take the safe option,' he said.
'We cannot just take the sure bet. If we take the sure bet on every housing proposal and only do uncontroversial things that will not make nimbys irate, nothing will move in NSW.'
Are there other sites that could be developed to boost housing in Sydney?
The Bays precinct is a large area around Rozelle and Blackwattle Bay. It has been earmarked for development but planning is in the early stages. It will have a Metro station on the Metro West line and the plan has earmarked sites for commercial property and 5,000 homes.
The plan does not include developing the port facilities at Glebe Island, formerly used to unload imported cars. Today the port is used intermittently for overseas cruise ships that fit under the Harbour Bridge and for concrete batching for major projects including the Metro and Barangaroo.
Its proximity to the city and proposed public transport links mean it could accommodate more housing.
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Urban Taskforce's chief executive, Tom Forrest, has said it would create few shadowing problems for surrounding houses – allowing for greater density.
The downside is that it would lead to the loss of marine infrastructure in Sydney Harbour.
Asked about this site in parliament on Wednesday, the NSW planning minister, Ryan Park, did not rule it out.
Developers are already advocating for greater housing densities at Olympic Park to replace Rosehill.
The master plan for 2050 calls for 13,000 new homes but developers say the 43-hectare site could house more.
The upside is that Olympic Park is on the Metro West line and has good sport and recreational facilities. The downside is that planning is advanced and changes could delay development.
The Metro West line goes directly under this 62-hectare government-owned waterfront site in Rozelle which was once home to Callan Park hospital.
No station is now planned but one could be added, in the same way the government proposed an additional station for Rosehill.
However, the site is now parkland and has several heritage-listed stone buildings. Development, especially high-density housing, would set the government on a collision course with inner-west residents and heritage experts.
The state government also owns the 25-hectare Gladesville hospital site on Victoria Road, although it is not on the Metro line. It is now used for some health facilities and is also heritage listed.
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The Sydney Yimby chair, Justin Simon, is an advocate for allowing more density in the eastern suburbs. He notes there is a partially constructed station in Woollahra on the eastern suburbs rail line that was mothballed in the 1970s due to resident objections.
Simon said the government's Transport Oriented Development (Tod) program doesn't include any eastern suburbs sites. The program allows development within 400 metres of transport hubs, and in the case of accelerated precincts, allows heights up to 30 storeys. The policy has led to several sites being proposed by developers on Sydney's north shore.
Simon said the forgotten Woollahra station could be developed quickly and developers would be keen to assemble sites from small holdings as they have on the north shore. 'We would be calling for very tall buildings,' he said.
Again, this proposal would meet resistance from the residents and heritage experts because homogenous Victorian housing characterises Woollahra.
The government appears to have ruled out building a Metro station at Rosehill after the proposed sale was rejected by turf club members.
But developers say the area remains a good location for more homes and a rail link.
The development director at Billbergia, Rick Graf, said the area remains a highly suitable site for high-density development and a modified Metro station closer to the Camellia town centre should be considered by the government.
Graf, who is also the convener of the Rosehill-Camellia Landowners Alliance, suggested the current plans for Camelia, an old industrial area 1.5km from the Parramatta CBD, were undercooked and should be revisited.
The current master plan envisages 13,000 dwellings serviced by the Parramatta light rail and a ferry wharf. But with the addition of the underused lands owned by the ATC around the racecourse, Graf said the area could support 25,000 homes in towers of 40 to 50 storeys, serviced by a Metro station.
'The racetrack could be part of the green space. In other parts of the world, playing fields are incorporated in the centre of race tracks,' he said.
Graf said Camellia landowners had not talked to the government since the Rosehill plan was defeated, but there was still a compelling case for a mini-city in the area.
Another state government-owned site, Long Bay is now used as a remand centre. The 32-hectare site is serviced by buses along Anzac Parade but is only 5km from the existing last light rail stop at Kingsford.
The prison would need to be relocated but the proximity to the CBD and beaches would make it attractive for new housing development.
Development at the 20-hectare commonwealth-owned Randwick barracks has been floated since the 1980s. It is relatively close to the last stops on the L2 and L3 light rail lines.
The current plan is for Defence to build 62 townhouses on a fraction of the site for defence families and retain it as a defence facility. The development is expected to be assessed by federal authorities this year and is exempt from state and local planning controls.
