At a Glance

• New housing targets have raised serious questions about infrastructure, jobs, and service capacity
• Growth must be matched by transport, water, roads, and community infrastructure
• Campbelltown cannot be expected to absorb increased housing without clear government support
• Accountability and transparency are essential if top down planning is to retain public trust

Growth Must Be Planned With Honesty

I have always believed that cities must grow with purpose, but never by assumption. Growth is not simply a matter of setting ambitious targets and expecting local communities to absorb the consequences. It requires planning, sequencing, infrastructure, and above all, accountability. That is why the release of the New South Wales Government’s new housing targets deserves careful and serious reflection.

These five year targets, applying across 43 local government areas, are intended to support the National Housing Accord and deliver a substantial increase in new dwellings. The scale of that ambition is clear. So too is the pressure it places on councils and communities that are expected to carry it.

In reflecting on this announcement, what was immediately clear to me was not only the significance of the numbers, but the way in which they were released. There was limited time for analysis, little information made available at the outset, and no prior consultation with councils or communities. That does not make the policy invalid, but it does place a heavier burden on government to explain its reasoning, justify its assumptions, and accept responsibility for the outcomes that follow.

Targets Alone Do Not Build Communities

The Government has argued that these targets will help address an imbalance in housing growth and direct more development to areas with existing infrastructure. That is a serious objective and, in principle, one that many would support. But such claims must be tested against lived reality.

In Campbelltown, we know that infrastructure pressure is not a theoretical concern. It is already present. We see it in transport congestion, in service demand, in road dependence, in water and waste water constraints, and in the broader challenge of ensuring that jobs and daily opportunity grow in step with population.

What was clear to me in reviewing the target for Campbelltown was that the increase is not modest. The shift from the earlier target range to 10,500 dwellings for the 2025 to 2029 period represents a very substantial rise. When measured on an annual basis, the increase is even more striking. That should give any serious planner or public representative pause.

Housing is necessary. But housing without supporting infrastructure does not create a thriving city. It creates strain. A target may look neat in a media release, but it is tested in train timetables, traffic conditions, school access, hospital capacity, water security, and the availability of local employment.

“The current infrastructure in Campbelltown already has significant backlogs.”

Campbelltown Cannot Carry Growth Alone

One of the enduring frustrations for communities in Greater Western Sydney is that they are too often expected to absorb substantial growth while continuing to wait for the infrastructure and investment that should accompany it. That pattern is not new, and it is one that should concern anyone serious about fairness in metropolitan planning.

The figures suggest that Western Sydney will again be expected to deliver a very large share of metropolitan housing growth. That fact alone should prompt a more mature discussion about balance, sequencing, and the obligations of government. It is not enough to say that growth should occur where homes are needed. One must also ask whether the transport links, jobs base, public services, and enabling infrastructure are in place to support that growth in a way that is sustainable.

I have long held the view that Campbelltown’s future is strong, but its potential should not be mistaken for unlimited spare capacity. A city may be capable of growth and still be underserved. Those two things can be true at the same time.

The lack of direct connection to Bradfield and Western Sydney Airport, the over reliance on private vehicles, and the pressure already felt on public transport all point to a simple truth. If higher housing targets are to be credible, then infrastructure delivery must be accelerated and made visible.

Planning Reform Must Be Joined to Public Investment

I am reminded that planning reform often arrives wrapped in the language of efficiency. There is always an argument that rules can be simplified, approvals accelerated, and capacity unlocked. Some of that may well be necessary. But reform in the planning system cannot substitute for public investment. It cannot overcome an infrastructure backlog on its own.

That is why questions of methodology matter. If these targets are said to account for infrastructure capacity, environmental constraints, and market feasibility, then councils and communities are entitled to see how those conclusions were reached. Transparency is not an optional extra in a matter of this consequence. It is central to public trust.

There is also a practical concern here for local planning. Campbelltown has already committed resources to reviewing its planning controls. Our housing strategy has sat unresolved for an extended period. If the State is now imposing a new target framework, councils deserve clarity about whether existing local plans remain relevant, whether amendments are expected, and how local strategic work is to be treated.

Accountability Must Follow Authority

I have said before that a top down approach to planning is not necessarily wrong. Governments are elected to govern, and at times they must act decisively. But where authority is exercised centrally, accountability must also sit centrally. A government that sets ambitious housing targets without consultation must be prepared to explain not only the aspiration, but the pathway.

That means being answerable for infrastructure shortfalls, service deficits, and the consequences of asking communities to grow faster than the systems around them can currently sustain. It also means recognising that councils cannot be left holding responsibility for outcomes they do not fully control.

Reflection

Campbelltown is ready to play its part in the future growth of our region, but growth must be grounded in realism and supported by the infrastructure that gives it meaning. I remain of the view that housing policy will only succeed when it treats communities not as abstract sites of capacity, but as lived places requiring transport, jobs, water, services, and trust. Ambition matters, but in public life it must always be matched by responsibility.

Read the original Mayoral Minute here: New Housing Targets