MURRAY River Council (MRC) is developing a new housing strategy as the southern NSW council experiences “rapid growth”.
Council have engaged Zenith Town Planning to prepare a council-wide housing strategy which will consider things like the different forms of housing, servicing and the where and when of releasing new residential land to meet housing demand.
As a first step in gathering information, council has invited the community to provide feedback on how council should address some of the issues that affect the provision of new housing.
“Our council is experiencing rapid growth, so to cater to this changing population we want to understand what our community needs in terms of housing,” Mayor Chris Bilkey said.
“Whether it’s a reflection of current trends of people moving out of cities, or the choice to make MRC home, we have seen an unprecedented demand for new housing over the last few years.
“The development of this strategy is therefore vital in ensuring we have robustly considered what we will need to meet our future housing demands.”
Cr Bilkey said MRC had already surpassed NSW Government population predictions for 2021 and experienced a 56 per cent increase in housing applications in the past 12 months.
He said council was also undertaking an independent population projection analysis which would be “fundamental” to outcomes of the housing strategy.
“This strategy is about ensuring housing needs are met now and into the future, so input from the people that live here is vital,” Cr Bilkey said.
“Are there any gaps in the Murray River Council housing market which we don’t seem to be catering for?
“For example, are we planning adequately for the aging demographic in our footprint?”
“Does our area provide a sufficient range of housing densities in our settlements?”
“These are the types of things we would like the community to consider and provide feedback on.”
Residents can have their say via council’s Your Say platform at yoursay.murrayriver.nsw.gov.au.
Consultation is open until November 15.
Council will then begin drafting a housing strategy for the community to provide further feedback on as part of phase two consultation.
