Already a subscriber?Several build-to-rent projects in Sydney’s west have received development approval despite one of them being at significant risk of being flooded, as the NSW planning department prioritises new rental housing over potential residual costs down the line.
The planning department approved the project after it referred the matter to the NSW Independent Planning Commission, which concluded that the project should be approved as its social benefit of adding housing outweighed flood risks.As part of the commission’s decision, it commissioned an independent review that found the Novus project had “significant” residual flood risks but noted that “the likelihood of the residual flood risks could not be determined”.
Novus will also design the building’s podium to be “a raft that touches the ground lightly, creating permeable activated street frontages whilst dealing with the overland flow around the site perimeter”. Urban Property Group’s 48 storey BTR tower, which does not have flooding risks, also received approval over the weekend. Urban’s BTR tower, which will stand alongside a 35-storey office tower, is set to house about 350 residential units comprised of private market rentals and rental housing for people with disability.Urban chief executive Patrick Elias said Parramatta was ripe for BTR development as it had sites that had laid dormant and were ripe for transformation.