A new housing code, which allows dual occupancies, terraces and manor houses to be fast-tracked as complying development, now applies in all council areas.
The Low Rise Housing Diversity Code (previously called the Low Rise Medium Density Housing Code), which started on July 1, allows development approval to be given within 20 days if the proposal complies with requirements in the code.
Neighbours are not notified and approval is given by private certifiers.
"The first the neighbours will know is when the bulldozers arrive on Monday morning," said Cr Ray Plibersek, who was prominent in an unsuccessful battle to have Sutherland Shire exempted from the state-wide system.
The state government granted no exemptions.
The code allows dual occupancies, manor houses and terraces to be built in zones where medium density housing was already allowed.
This amounts to 60 per cent of the shire, where medium density housing has traditionally been allowed in R2 and R3 zones.
The code also allows the conversion of an existing house into a dual occupancy as long as it complies with the standards a new development has to meet.
Late last year, Sutherland Shire Council wrote to the government, saying the code would lead to "excessive" development, allowing much greater density than is permitted by the 2015 local environmental plan (LEP).
In April this year, the council made a final appeal with a resolution stating the code would have "a detrimental effect" on existing residents, including "loss of privacy, overcrowding, reduced numbers of large family home sites, a decline in family wellbeing and a decline in the quality of life and the environment".
The council is still hoping to have changes made to the way the code is implemented in the shire.
A meeting is scheduled next week between Planning Minister Rob Stokes, mayor Carmelo Pesce, council officials and Cronulla MP and Attorney-General Mark Speakman.
Cr Pesce said the council was seeking some control and community consultation, and the minister had indicated he was open to suggestions.
The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment said the code provided more housing choice by encouraging more variety in the form of dual occupancies, manor houses and terraces.
"Good housing design goes beyond the look of a building and its architectural style - it can add social, economic and environmental value and can assist to create robust neighbourhoods and communities that are fit for future challenges and change," the department said.
"Development must meet all of the development standards in the code and the design criteria in the Low Rise Housing Diversity Design Guide for complying development."
Cr Plibersek said the new forms of housing would cram more people into smaller spaces and with with less parking compared with traditional townhouses and villas.
"The shire is already very crowded," he said. "Our roads, schools, playing fields and public transport are overcrowded and often beyond design capacity."
The forms of housing covered by the code are:
- Dual occupancy - attached or detached.
- Manor House - A building containing 3 or 4 dwellings, where each dwelling is attached to another dwelling by a common wall or floor, and at least 1 dwelling is partially or wholly located above another dwelling, and the building contains no more than 2 storeys (excluding any basement).
- Multi dwelling housing (terraces) - 3 or more dwellings on one lot of land where each dwelling has access at ground level, no part of a dwelling is above any part of any other dwelling, and dwellings face and generally follow the alignment of one or more public roads.
