Advertisement
Kellie Sloane has sensationally accused the Labor government of significantly increasing building heights in her eastern suburbs electorate after she became opposition leader in a bid to wedge her on housing before the next election.
Sloane’s Vaucluse electorate takes in both Edgecliff and Woollahra, where Premier Chris Minns plans to rezone for 9400 more homes and allow building heights up to 34 and 32 storeys, respectively. The opposition leader faces being wedged both by a Labor government keen to paint her as a NIMBY if she opposes the plans and local community groups protesting against overdevelopment.
Former Labor candidate for Wentworth and arts adviser Evan Hughes this week registered with the Electoral Commission to run against Sloane as a single-issue independent candidate with the slogan “no high-rise, no compromise”, vowing he’ll drop out of the race only if the Liberal MP comes out against more development at Woollahra.
“Can we just address the elephant in the room?” Sloane said on Thursday.
Advertisement
“Don’t you think it’s a little bit suss that the premier, when he announced this originally, said a maximum of 21 storeys, and now that I’m opposition leader, he’s supersized it … we all want houses but he’s having a lend of everyone, not just me.”
Sloane said she was not against a housing uplift in the eastern suburbs and supported the half-finished train station being completed, but argued 32 storeys was not realistic to build in Woollahra. When asked what a realistic height in Woollahra was, Sloane said she did not know, but it was more about the “topography” of the area.
“At the moment, I’m very interested in what the community and the property developers think about whether this works,” she said.
Planning Minister Paul Scully said the government was not letting politics dictate planning decisions and called on Sloane to say exactly how many new homes she would support in Woollahra.
Advertisement
The decision to increase the building heights was to concentrate denser apartment buildings near the train stations to better maintain nearby heritage areas, Scully said.
Minns has argued that solving Sydney’s housing supply crisis should not be solely the responsibility of Sydney’s western suburbs, and that increasing the number of well-located homes near the CBD and close to public transport is a more sustainable way to grow the city.
When asked if creating a wedge issue for Sloane was a by-product of the plans, Minns said: “I think that the Liberal Party has been generally supportive of major developments in western Sydney, I just think there’s got to be some equity in terms of where these new dwellings go.”
He said he did not believe the plans to significantly increase building heights in Woollahra would fundamentally change the amenity and local character of the community.
Advertisement
That argument has not convinced furious locals fearing their leafy village lifestyle will be replaced by high-rises and wind tunnels. Among them is Evan Hughes, son of legendary art dealer Ray, who was so incensed by the premier’s announcement that he this week registered to contest Sloane’s seat of Vaucluse as an independent to try to force the opposition leader to wage war against the plans.
“She has an obligation to her constituents to come out against this insanity, this Minns-sanity,” Hughes said.
The former president of Labor’s Paddington branch and once arts adviser to minister John Graham, Hughes said the rezoning plans have had his local friends and neighbours in tears. He believes the plans were hatched by “a group of twenty-something-year-old staffers sitting around Google Maps and a ouija board” rather than good planning.
“If Kellie comes down hard against this, I’ll step aside – if not, she’s going to lose her seat,” Hughes said.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
You have reached your maximum number of saved items.
Remove items from your saved list to add more.
More:
Jessica McSweeney is a reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald covering state politics and urban affairs.Connect via email.AdvertisementAdvertisement