Furious property owners discover THEIR land has been green-lit for $2billion development without any consultation

Property owners are in uproar after the NSW government’s new housing body fast-tracked approval of a $2billion apartment project on their land without notice. 

The Housing Development Authority (HDA) has recommended a 2,020-apartment complex on the Rhodes Peninsula, in Sydney’s inner-west, by developer Billbergia receive formal development approval.

It was one of 30 expressions of interest (EOI) reviewed by the three-person panel in a two-hour session in February. 

The application, the biggest approved by the HDA, failed to recognise the developer did not own much of the land – some of which was owned by the state government. 

The remaining landowners, including small businesses, only learned their properties had been included in the proposal following media reports some months later.

‘We only found out about it because someone emailed us and said, ‘Oh, did you sell your warehouse?”, Freelancer chief executive Matt Barrie, whose parents own one of the affected properties, told the Daily Mail this week. 

‘And we said, ”No, why?” and they said that it was all over the media.’

When Mr Barrie raised the issue with the Department of Planning, he was told ownership did not need to be demonstrated for HDA expressions of interest. 

This is despite the relevant application form expressly requiring applicants ‘demonstrate ownership or an option to purchase for all land to which the proposal applies’. 

‘The approval illustrates systemic flaws in the HDA’s inaugural process – rules on land control were sidestepped, owners were blindsided, a retroactive fix was applied instead of a fresh assessment, and one already-dominant developer received the lion’s share of uplift,’ Mr Barrie said. 

‘These issues raise serious legal, probity and public-interest concerns about the HDA framework itself.’ 

A spokesperson for the department told Daily Mail ownership does not need to be proved at the expression of interest stage.   

‘The Housing Delivery Authority (HDA) does not approve development and it considers the land tenure criterion as part of their evaluation of all EOI applications against the HDA EOI criteria,’ they said. 

‘The HDA EOI criteria includes land tenure as an indicator of the capacity of the project to be assessed and delivered quickly, rather than to confirm landowners’ consent.

‘Landowners’ consent is a requirement of a development application, which comes after an EOI is declared. The development application undertakes a merit assessment of the proposal and includes notification of the proposal to adjoining property.’ 

After complaints were raised in July, Planning Minister Paul Scully issued a special order removing 40 per cent of the land from the development area. 

However, the plan to build 2,020 apartments remained unchanged, pushing the proposed towers onto foreshore parkland earmarked for community use.    

The incident highlights potential flaws in the HDA process, which was designed to speed up approvals for 377,000 new homes over five years.

The Minns government formed the authority late last year to accelerate approvals as it aims to meet its National Housing Accord target of 377,000 new completed homes by mid-2029. 

It was given powers to bypass councils in rezoning land and recommending ‘state significant’ developments for fast-tracked development. 

The three-person authority comprises Premier’s Department secretary Simon Draper, Department of Planning secretary Kiersten Fishburn and Infrastructure NSW chief executive Tom Gellibrand.

It was created in December and given powers to bypass councils in rezoning land and recommending large housing projects for fast-tracked development. 

Legislation to entrench the three-person body was tabled in state parliament on Wednesday, as part of a suite of reforms to streamline planning approvals. 

‘For too long, NSW has been hamstrung by a planning system that delays good projects and makes it harder to build the homes our communities desperately need,’ Minns said in a statement. 

Critics, however, has raised fears the authority will circumvent the interests of local communities and benefit big developers. 

Local Government NSW president Darriea Turley said councils supported efforts to speed up housing delivery but opposed the HDA. 

‘This is not only because of the concern about bypassing local councils, but fundamentally, but also because it opens the planning system to more ad hoc proposals, disregarding local strategic plans and risks adding more uncertainty to the planning system,’ she said in a statement. 

‘The NSW Government is continually shifting the planning goalposts for communities and developers.’

The department spokesperson said HDA members are briefed via a report prepared by the department ahead of each meeting.   

‘HDA members and department staff spend a significant amount of time preparing for HDA briefings outside of the briefing itself.

‘The HDA and its secretariat have made iterative improvements to processes and the HDA criteria since establishment. The improvements include requiring clearer details around land tenure from applicants.

‘It is ultimately a matter for the HDA to be satisfied whether an EOI adequately addresses the criteria and to provide a recommendation to the Minister for his consideration and decisions whether to declare a proposal as SSD.

‘The Minister can amend or revoke his Ministerial Order under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.’   

Daily Mail has contacted Billbergia for comment.