Rodney Stevens
The Yamba Community Action Network (Yamba CAN) Inc are encouraging locals who are concerned about future development in Yamba up to 18 metres in height, Iluka up to 12 metres, and 20 metres in Grafton, to make a submission to Clarence Valley Council’s Draft Local Housing Strategy and Draft Affordable Housing Policy.
The six-week timeframe for submissions into the Housing Strategy and Affordable Housing Policy ends at 9am on December 22.
In the Housing Strategy, a population forecast by demographers .id predicted the Clarence Valley will increase from 54,115 recorded in the 2021 Census, to 64,121 people by 2041, an average growth rate of 0.8 per-cent per annum.
To accommodate this increase, the Housing Strategy estimates that, across the Clarence Valley LGA, between 2,090 and 3,790 additional dwellings will be required by 2041.
This will see between 190 and 340 houses constructed at Ashby, Iluka, Woombah, and surrounds, 100 to 180 homes at Lawrence, 100 to 180 houses in Maclean, 580 to 1060 dwellings at Angourie and Yamba, 310 to 560 houses at Gulmarrad and Townsend, 180 to 320 homes at Junction Hill and Southgate, 140 to 250 houses in Grafton, 120 to 220 houses in Clarenza and South Grafton, 110 to 220 homes in Wooli, Tucabia, Ulmarra and district, 80 to 140 homes in the rural northwest of the LGA and 90 to 160 houses at Waterview Heights and Seelands, by 2041 to satisfy demand.
All the details about housing requirements in various towns are buried in the last few pages of council’s 158-page Draft Local Housing Strategy.
Yamba CAN is concerned that Council’s Draft Housing Strategy and Affordable Housing Policy proposes 152 dwellings on Yamba Hill comprising premium townhouses, residential flats and multi-dwelling housing up to 12m high, and apartments above shops up to 18m high in the CBD.
To achieve this, about 70 existing dwellings on Yamba Hill around Ager, Harwood, Link and Yamba Streets could be demolished to allow construction of residential flats, town houses and multi-dwelling housing, up to 12m in height, on small lots 400sqm or less.
In Grafton, the Housing Strategy recommends 334 dwellings are needed and proposes 20-metre-high premium townhouses on prime waterfront real estate, while 338 of the same waterfront townhouses are recommended for South Grafton to a height of 14 metres, plus CBD shop top housing up to 20 metres.
In Iluka, the Housing Strategy recommends 38 townhouses in a desirable location up to a height of 12 metres.
Council’s Affordable Housing Policy states “Affordable housing must be made available to very low, low, and moderate-income households”.
Time will tell whether developers can provide affordable housing in high real estate value areas of the valley.
Submissions to the Draft Local Housing Strategy and Draft Affordable Housing Policy close at 9am on Friday, December 22.
To obtain a proforma to lodge a submission email Yamba CAN Inc at yambacan@gmail.com .
To make a submission visit https://www.clarence.nsw.gov.au/On-exhibition/Draft-Local-Housing-Strategy-and-Draft-Affordable-Housing-Policy?fbclid=IwAR3knfsMaLO63GncwCB4cKJSNUggtKDO51rSYhsL-xypAj_fiQB3R7PhXwQ
Visit www.clarencevalleynews.com.au for images of the Draft Housing Strategy in 14 locations around the valley.