Griffith City Council and the state government are both taking steps to address the regional housing crisis

Griffith Council recently endorsed the 'Large Lot Residential Supply and Demand Analysis and Strategy,' a plan to rezone eligible land to large lot rural residental zones after a lack of supply was identified.

Council's Consultant Planner, Kelly McNicol said the Strategy was the latest development in the ongoing push to improve housing availability in Griffith.

"The Strategy looks at candidate sites based on submissions received during our public consultation exercise."

Around 80 percent of the sites analysed have been included as sites in the Strategy.

RELATED

Griffith Mayor, Councillor Doug Curran said the approval of the plan would allow for more rural residential lots to be developed within the community.

"This is something we've been talking about for some time so this progress is really exciting," Councillor Curran said.

"A few of the benefits include, increasing housing stock elsewhere for sale or rent and providing housing diversity and choice with large lot residential as a popular alternative to urban living."

A key element to addressing the lack of housing is the plan to extend Clifton Boulevard to the intersection with Rifle Range Road, which will add somewhere between 800 and 900 blocks ready for development.

On the state government side of things, the launch of a new 1 million dollar program to address the crisis is hoped to fast-track development applications.

The 'Regional Housing Flying Squad' will be a panel of consultants traveling to regional areas to assist with planning applications.

IN OTHER NEWS

"We know regional NSW needs more homes, that's why I'm announcing a Regional Housing Flying Squad to help regional councils clear development applications faster," said Minister for Planning Anthony Roberts said.

"A panel of planning consultants, funded by the NSW Government and helped by the Department of Planning and Environment (DPE), will be available to help manage development applications for new homes."

"We know attracting qualified planners can be a problem, particularly for smaller regional councils," he said.

"That's why, in addition to the flying squad, the Department will open up space in its offices for councils to use as remote workplaces for their planners."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: