Latest news with #missingmiddle
ABC News
2 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Concerns missing middle housing proposal could see 'hodgepodge of unsatisfactory development'
Some Canberra residents have expressed concern about proposed changes to planning rules that would allow denser development in Canberra's suburbs, released by the ACT government last month to address the "missing middle" in housing supply. But ACT government architect Catherine Townsend insists the current proposal is "democratic" and focus on helping "mums and dads" as investors as much as big property developers. The draft Missing Middle Housing Design Guide — which is currently open for public feedback — is aimed at encouraging the construction of more "missing middle" type properties in areas currently zoned for standalone houses. Missing middle housing refers to terraces, townhouses, duplexes and low-rise apartment buildings. The proposed changes have been welcomed by housing affordability advocates and building and property industries, though they argue further reductions in building approval red-tape and financial incentives will be needed to see an increase in missing middle homes. North Canberra Community Council member Simon Clarke said while he was supportive of the underlying concept of addressing the missing middle, he was concerned the proposed changes could result in a "hodgepodge of unsatisfactory development". "Housing is a human right, but my concern is that 'missing middle' has to be more than just a slogan. "It has to be supported by rigorous structure and guidelines so that it doesn't end up being a mishmash that we look back on in 20 years' time and think, 'Why on Earth did we let that happen?' "I think the [building and property development] industry sees the missing middle as a chance for deregulation and almost unfettered access." Mr Clarke said the densification in some areas of Canberra's inner north has been appropriate, but it has also put strain on street infrastructure, like parking. "In north Watson, which is a much denser area than old Watson, there is already parking stress and people are finding it very difficult to park anywhere near where they live," he said. "You look at the developments along Northbourne Avenue that have to exit all their traffic onto the suburban streets behind, because they're not allowed to open onto Northbourne Avenue — that has placed huge stress on those smaller streets. "It's all very well to say, 'Oh we've got the light rail and bus service etcetera, so people won't need cars'. "It would be lovely if it actually happened, but the reality is it won't — we are still a car-based society whether we like it or not." The ACT government said there would still be adequate restrictions to ensure suburbs retain their character and aren't overdeveloped. Concerns have also been raised about over-shadowing caused by increasing height limits in RZ2 or 'suburban core' streets. "Once you leave it to the profit motive to become almost the only arbiter, you understandably end up with less than satisfactory outcomes," Mr Clarke said. But ACT government architect Ms Townsend insists setbacks, building envelopes, and over-shadowing restrictions will reduce the impact on neighbours to developed or consolidated blocks. "I'm happy to say that there's no change to … the rights of a neighbour on the solar access to their property," Ms Townsend said. "So, the existing conditions around solar access to your indoor private living spaces and to your outdoor private living spaces: they remain as they are now. "The same controls over our privacy interfacing and overlooking characteristics, they stay the same as they are — and I think that's important." Ms Townsend said minimum parking requirements are also a "point that needs attention". "The government is very interested in being realistic about how many cars we have on site," Ms Townsend said. "In the past, there was a mandated minimum level for owners' cars, for visitors' cars, for a lot of car parking on site. Ms Townsend said broadly speaking, the proposed new minimum is less than it is at the moment but will need to be taken on a case-by-case basis. "We're really aware that some areas of the territory are already at capacity with on-street parking," she said. "So, in those areas a development will need to be fairly self-supporting in the car parking. "What we've got to do now is anticipate a very slow transfer to fewer vehicles, so we don't build in structures at the moment that we can't manipulate or change down the track." As to the reality of whether it would be owner-occupiers of suburban blocks or property developers who would lead processes leading to the consolidation or merging of multiple blocks for bigger developers, Ms Townsend said it could be both. "One of the nice things about this planning reform is that it's quite democratic in that it's equally focused towards the mums and dads as well as the professional developers," she said. "Who has the conversations about consolidation? Certainly, start with homeowners talking to your neighbours if this is something you're interested in. "You could choose to do a joint development, or you could sell at the same time — there are many opportunities here." But Property Council ACT Executive Director Ashlee Berry argued those opportunities won't be fully realised without financial incentives, like a moratorium on charges for changing a crown lease which can cost tens of thousands of dollars. "Ultimately, it means that [if] projects don't stack up — they're not feasible, you can't get finance, and you need to recover your costs somehow — you won't be able to sell it for a price that actually makes you any money. "And so people simply won't do it because it just doesn't make good economic sense." The ACT government has said there are no proposed changes to the lease variation charge through the missing middle reforms Under the missing middle proposal, a crown lease that is limited to one dwelling will need to be varied to permit two or more homes. The Lease Variation Charge (LVC) — calculated based on suburb, total approved number of dwellings and their zone — is only payable once the lease variation development application has been approved, and goes toward funding infrastructure and services. An applicant can pay up-front or may be eligible to enter the deferred payment scheme to pay the tax later when the development is built, which supports cash flow. "The principle of Lease Variation Charge is not the issue here, it's that it has grown exponentially over the last sort of 10 years, and we've also had other issues at play," Ms Berry said. "Land has gone up, construction costs have gone up, and so now it's the thing that's just tipping projects from being feasible to simply not stacking up. "I'm hoping that that government will listen, government will understand that the LVC in its current form will be a handbrake on this type of development, and that we can get some really considered change to bring about this missing middle reform that Canberra needs." The draft Missing Middle Housing Design Guide is open for public feedback online until 22 July, and written submissions can be sent by email until 5 August.
ABC News
5 days ago
- General
- ABC News
The families seeing their loved ones abandoned by a mental health system in crisis
Desperate and grieving families say they're living with the consequences of the crisis in New South Wales' public mental health system. Their loved ones are part of a group the system does not adequately care for, known as "the missing middle" — people with complex mental health needs who are too unwell for a GP, but not sick enough to be admitted to hospital. Without proper support in the community, their health can deteriorate to a life-threatening point where they need the acute care of a hospital. Doctors say the crisis is only getting worse, revealing the under-resourcing of mental health in the state has led to them turning people away from care and discharging patients before it's safe. "People might be discharged early, they may have another attempt on their life, which I saw on a number of occasions, and then they'd come back to a hospital," Suzy Goodison, former psychiatrist at Sydney's largest hospital, the Royal Prince Alfred, said. Four Corners was flooded with responses after asking its audience to share their experiences seeking help for serious mental illness in NSW. A clear pattern emerged — people spoke repeatedly about how they, or their loved ones, were discharged too soon or denied care when they needed it most, sometimes with devastating consequences. Warning: This story contains references to suicide and self-harm and may be distressing for some readers. One father told Four Corners his daughter's early discharge from hospital actively triggered her to self-harm. "My daughter has had several admissions to hospital for suicidal ideation or suicide attempts. "In each case, she has simply been discharged after waiting all day (and night, in some cases) in emergency. "In my daughter's most recent admission to a Sydney hospital, she was again discharged without any further direction provided for her care. "As soon as she got home that afternoon, she went to her room and attempted suicide. We later found out that the trigger for this suicide attempt was despair at being sent home again, when she knew that she needed serious care but would never receive it. "Our GP has had to play the role of ad hoc psychiatrist, prescribing and monitoring depression and anxiety medication. "He personally tried to contact psychiatrists in the public and private system on our behalf, but those either did not reply to his calls, were closed to new patients or were prohibitively expensive." It costs more than $1,000 a day to stay in a private mental health clinic and only top gold cover private insurance will help pay for it. After dealing with an overwhelmed hospital system, patients are supposed to be assigned to a mental health team in the community staffed with psychologists, social workers, nurses, and ideally psychiatrists. The NSW government's own data shows it's likely that almost 60,000 people with severe mental illness aren't getting the community care they need, because the teams are so short staffed. "It comes down to loss of staffing in community mental health services, they're running on the sniff of an oily rag," said Dr Goodison, who previously worked in the community teams in the Sydney Local Health District. "These people with really chronic, debilitating mental health issues become unwell in the community, the community team can no longer hold onto them, and so they come to hospital," Dr Goodison said. This mother said her son was repeatedly told by a community mental health team in Sydney tasked with supporting people at crisis point, that no help was available. "In mid 2024 our son was admitted three times to the emergency department. "Then in July, experiencing distress and not wanting to go back to the emergency department, he called the acute community care team and asked for help. "He was informed there was no assistance available as they were understaffed. "He put me on the phone to the member of the acute care team who told me that they did not have anyone available to speak with him or come and see him, and that I should call the police or take him to the ED. "I was later told by a member of this team, that the understaffing and under-resources of this service is the worst it has been for 20 years, and the service is unable to help young people experiencing acute distress or crisis such as my son. "Our son died late last year, aged 19. "He was a beautiful, clever, thoughtful, compassionate, perceptive, loved and loving and profoundly sensitive child and adolescent who had struggled — with courage and resilience." More than 4 million Australians are experiencing a serious mental health challenge and rates of severe symptoms are rising, according to a landmark national survey by Beyond Blue obtained by Four Corners. But more than half of them are not getting the help they need, when they need it. The figures reflect the experience of these families, like Penny Leemhuis', whose brother died by suicide last year. He had presented to a mental health hospital unit three times in three weeks, as well as an emergency department, saying he had thoughts of suicide. "In March last year, my brother Luke took his own life… [and] a serious adverse event investigation was held. "The report was over 200 pages long, finding multiple systemic failures and lack of procedures contributed to Luke ultimately taking his life. They were identified as missed opportunities. "At what point will governments across all levels, recognise and understand that we in Australia have an escalating mental health crisis that is not being adequately addressed? "Luke was a person. Luke had a life. Luke, like so many others, deserved better." The NSW government told Four Corners it invested $2.9 billion into mental health services in the last year, including funding for community support programs which reduces pressure on emergency departments. That includes $102 million for living support programs. "We acknowledge there is more work to do to address the areas of need, and NSW Health is continuing this important work with stakeholders to further investigate and identify services best suited to addressing identified gaps," a spokesperson said. Despite government spending, many families have struggled to access services — like this father whose daughter died by suicide last year after consistently being discharged from psychiatric wards before she was ready. "Alice was a cherished and much-loved daughter and sister. "In the nine months before she died, she had three separate month-long admissions to psychiatric wards under a schedule. "The day before her final discharge from the psych ward she said to me, 'I can't wait to get out of here so I can kill myself.' "I told the doctors exactly what she had said but they discharged her the next day. "In the final three weeks I took her to the emergency department twice. I pleaded with them to admit her, explained how unwell she was and that she talked of little else but suicide. Each time she was discharged after a few hours. Days later she was dead. "I believe very strongly that Alice's suicide was due to a complete failure by the health system, a failure in duty of care. There were a sea of red flags, that were ignored, overlooked or minimised." Testimonies like this along with firsthand experiences from doctors show the current system isn't fit for purpose, according to the NSW chair for the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. "This is a shortfall we would not accept anywhere else in our health sector," Pramudie Gunaratne said. "The only thing that we are able to actually uphold in our current public mental health [system] is crisis care, and that doesn't actually provide ongoing, good quality care for our patients. "If all we have is a revolving door where someone comes in under crisis, we are able to kind of keep them in a ward, patch them up, and then send them back out for them only to come back again. "So I don't think we really have a system at all at the moment." NSW Health told Four Corners patients are not discharged "unless clinically appropriate". "We will never turn people away," a state government spokesman said. "We want to make it very clear — if anyone is in need of mental health treatment they should reach out for help. Our system is designed to provide it, and has continued to, throughout this process." Watch Four Corners's full investigation, Emergency: The Long Wait for Help on ABC iview.
ABC News
20-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Planning changes to address 'missing middle' in housing supply
The ACT government proposes changes to planning rules so more "missing middle" housing like townhouses and duplexes can be built.
ABC News
19-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
ACT government proposes changes to planning rules to 'address missing middle'
Residential blocks could be consolidated for development and restrictions on block sizes for second dwellings would be removed, under proposed changes to ACT planning rules. With Canberra's population expected to reach 784,000 by 2060, and the ACT Legislative Assembly passing a motion last month calling for a boundary to be set for the city's urban growth, the territory government says there's a need to address the "missing middle" in housing supply. Missing middle housing refers to terraces, townhouses, duplexes and low-rise apartment buildings. The government has today released a draft Missing Middle Housing Design Guide, which gives recommendations for developers and builders. It also proposed changes to the Territory Plan, which outlines what development can take place and where. Key changes proposed for residential zone 1 and 2 (RZ1 and RZ2) include: RZ1 or "Suburban" zone blocks are the most common in Canberra — making up around 70 per cent of all blocks. "Suburban Core" zone, or RZ2 blocks, are generally found closer to suburban shops, services and arterial roads. ACT Planning Minister Chris Steel said the changes would enable more "missing middle" type housing to be built in both zones, while still respecting the character of suburbs and surrounding landscapes. "Labor believes there's a moral imperative to supply more housing for first home buyers, for growing families and for people that want to age in place," Mr Steel said. "But there's not a lot of choice in the housing market at the moment. Townhouses, terraces, walk-up apartments, are effectively prohibited in most residential zones in Canberra. "The government wants to make a change to allow those types of missing middle homes in residential suburbs in Canberra." Mr Steel said there would still be adequate restrictions to ensure suburbs retained their character and weren't overdeveloped, with measures like the consolidation of blocks in RZ1 generally limited to 2,000 square metres where there's no adjoining urban open space or a community path network. He said the overall size of buildings would largely be controlled by site cover, setbacks, planting area and solar access requirements. "We want to get the design right, which is why we've led with this Missing Middle Housing Design Guide, which will retain what we love about our streets, low-rise development and making sure that we've got tree canopy cover as well," Mr Steel said. "There's also design guidance about how we can better utilise the adjacent green spaces to make sure that the development compliments the street, rather than taking away what we love. "We're only going to see a salt and pepper of this type of development happening in any one street over a period of time. "Where this type of development has already been permitted, we see a couple of these pockets of missing middle housing development. It's definitely not the whole street." Howard Maclean has firsthand experienced of the reality of a lack of affordable housing. "When I was 23, I went to a share house inspection for rent in Turner, and the queue literally went around the block," Mr Maclean said. "There were about 50 or 60 people in that queue. I met so many people I knew — this is for a tiny, three-bedroom house. "I was a student at the time at ANU, and that was a terrible situation. I actually ended up being homeless for about 10 days because we finally managed to get a place, but we didn't get it in time. Mr Maclean is now the convenor of housing advocacy group Greater Canberra, which has been pushing for more "missing middle" type housing in established suburbs. He welcomed the government's proposal, but argued it could have gone further in removing restrictions for block consolidation. "We think that those limits are a bit low, and potentially a bit arbitrary," Mr Maclean said. "If a developer can actually assemble 5,000 square metres a block, and is in a position to redevelop them all as one big and well designed townhouse or apartment complex, we think that the rules should allow that." Mr Maclean pointed to areas like Dickson as good examples of missing middle housing working and blending in with the more traditional, single-detached homes. "These particular changes came about after the light rail rezoning along the light rail corridor," he said. "It's a really good example of when we actually get these zoning reforms that legalises things like duplexes and terraces — it just happens, and people don't particularly notice. "And because we're up zoning the entire city at once, the rate of change in every suburb will be quite low, which is, we think, a good thing." In 2016, Auckland opened up blocks to higher-density housing, resulting in rental prices falling and housing stock increasing by 4 per cent compared to other cities. But the policy has also faced criticism where infrastructure like roads and public transport wasn't upgraded to match the increase in population and density in some areas. Mr Maclean said it was an important example of how systems like heritage preservation rules could conflict with the intent of planning law changes. "The areas called Special Character Areas — SCA is in the Auckland terminology — we would call them heritage areas … all of those were in the centre of Auckland," Mr Maclean said. "As a result, all the development got pushed out." Mr Maclean said heritage rules in some of Canberra's inner suburbs would make it "practically impossible" to redevelop some blocks. "How much money are we paying to preserve Reid as purely a suburb of cottages when it's the best located suburb for density and for housing in our city?" he said. "How much housing are we willing to push out to West Belconnen to pay that price?" Master Builders ACT has been warning the territory is on track to fall short of its targets under the National Housing Accord. While the organisation's chief executive Anna Neelagama conceded issues that have impacted the sector nationally — like skilled workforce shortages — were a contributing factor, she said any change that would make it easier to build more homes was welcome. "We think it will help drive activity in the sector at a time where it needs it the most," Ms Neelagama said. "But more importantly, it will deliver a greater variety of housing supply to Canberrans at any stage of life — whether you know you're a retiree or whether you're a new entrant to the housing market. "But we need to get it right, and we need to make it as simple as possible to build these kinds of dwellings." Ms Neelagama said there was still work to do to when it came to streamlining building approval processes . "We're hopeful that, as this design guide becomes clear and the changes to the Territory Plan come into place, that we're able to introduce new express-permitting. "We have got to throw the kitchen sink at housing for Canberrans, so there's affordable homes, so there's many homes. "This is a good first step, but it's a first step." Mr Steel said the proposals would go before ACT Legislative Assembly committees, but he was hopeful the intent of the changes would receive broad support. "Most parties in the legislative assembly provided support for more missing middle housing reform at the election," Mr Steel said. "So we expect that there will be support for this, but this is a very detailed piece of work. "We've been working with architects, with the construction sector, to make sure that what we're proposing is viable and can be built financially feasibly. "Now we want to test what we've been able to produce with the broader community." Consultation on the government's proposals is open until July 22, while long-form submissions will be accepted until August 5.
