27 August 2014

The Urban Taskforce has reviewed the draft amendments to the Hills Development Control Plan and the accompanying report to Council, including the Analysis of the Property Market Trends and Housing Affordability.  The Hills Shire should be congratulated for trying to deal with the housing affordability issue and also in its attempt to encourage what the Council considers to be quality higher density development.  We are pleased to note that Council officer reports are supported by some property market trend data.

20 June 2014

The Urban Taskforce has met with Government to discuss the possible role and structure of a Greater Sydney Commission.  This correspondence confirms Urban suggestions on the best way forward including the key principles that may be of assistance to Government as they work towards formulating a structure for the Commission.

8 July 2014

We are pleased to note that the draft report acknowledges the work that the Urban Taskforce has completed on improving local government efficiency. In particular it is encouraging that IPART supports our argument that significant savings and efficiency gains can be achieved by adopting a regional approach to governance and forming local government shared services centres.

04 August 2014

See final Warrah newsletter. The Urban Taskforce's Property Person of the Year is  a major fund raising event for two charities- Warrah Homes & St Vincent's Prostate Cancer Research. The 2012 Property Person of the Year, Ross McDiven of Brookfield Multiplex went further than raising money and organised a Bathroom Blitz to restore many substandard bathrooms in Warrah’s accommodation buildings. The Bathroom Blitz has seen eight bathrooms upgraded by Brookfield Multiplex and supportive consultants,suppliers and subcontractors for Warrah so far. Warrah is a charity that supports people with disabilities.

31 July 2014

Click on read more to see list of Winners for Development Excellence Awards 2014!

See list of winners with Peter Poulet's comments here.

03 July 2014

This video demonstrates two good examples of data modelling to present planning options. These tools are needed to show communities the benefits of new development.

Click on image to view video

12 June 2014

Our submission focuses on the unintended and adverse impact of planning, zoning and land use restrictions on competition and responds to the issues raised in Chapter 2 – Regulatory Impediments to Competition. The Urban Taskforce argues that the New South Wales experience is that planning and zoning regulation do exert an adverse impact on competition.

June 2014

The Urban Taskforce's Property Person of the Year is  a major fund raising event for two charities- Warrah Homes & St Vincent's Prostate Cancer Research. The 2012 Property Person of the Year, Ross McDiven of Brookfield Multiplex went further than raising money and organised a Bathroom Blitz to restore many substandard bathrooms in Warrah’s accommodation buildings. The Bathroom Blitz has seen eight bathrooms upgraded by Brookfield Multiplex and supportive consultants,suppliers and subcontractors for Warrah so far. Warrah is a charity that supports people with disabilities.

08 April 2014

We strongly advocate for government policy and legislation that supports residential development. We argue that investment in new residential development projects assists in the delivery of much needed housing and also stimulates growth of our construction industry.  While this review is said to consider foreign investment in residential real estate, we fear that the review will focus on Chinese investment. Focusing on a particular Country’s investment is counterproductive and dare we say, xenophobic.

24 April 2014

Though not perfect, the bilateral assessments agreement prevents the duplication of assessment.  However, there is still a need for two approvals, one from the State Planning Minister and the other from the Commonwealth Minister for the Environment. We are pleased to note that the Government is pursing the introduction of an approval bilateral.