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Shadow minister for planning and public spaces,Paul Scully.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

“I’m worried we’re again failing to align population growth and public transport investment,” he told the Committee for Sydney’s Sydney Summit on Monday. “When we get the opportunity to deliver more affordable and key worker housing near metro stations,we should be taking it.

“We can’t pretend we don’t need more nurses,paramedics,police officers,teachers,cleaners or hospitality workers closer to Sydney CBD. We do,and the metro provides an opportunity to do that.”

Scully pointed to the Cherrybrook metro station in the Hornsby local government area,and the forthcoming Victoria Cross and Crows Nest stations in the North Sydney LGA,as places ripe for additional development.

He compared their relatively modest population growth forecasts to that of Blacktown,which added 50,000 people between 2016 and 2021 and,pre-COVID,was expecting its population to grow by another 215,000 by 2041.

A string of metro stations is being built between the city and Bankstown,including Sydenham,Marrickville and Dulwich Hill,and later between the CBD and Westmead,including Pyrmont,the Bays and Five Dock.

Scully saidthe Coalition government “dramatically reduced” the scale of buildings planned for directly above the Crows Nest metro station following complaints from nearby residents. As well as reducing building heights,it halved the number of new homes planned for the site.

The government alsodecoupled the construction of the residential buildings from the station itself,which is due to open next year. It is located at the corner of three Liberal-held seats,all of which face challenges from teal independents campaigning against so-called overdevelopment.

AsOpposition Leader Chris Minns announced last month,Scully said that under Labor,the Greater Cities Commission would be charged with reworking council housing targets,which are currently being updated,with this new directive front and centre.

Work is forging ahead on the Victoria Cross Metro station at North Sydney.Credit:Nine

Scully also flagged Labor would seek to curb urban sprawl at Sydney’s fringes. “We can’t continue the endless push[outwards],” he said. “It makes it difficult for governments to keep up with the infrastructure challenges that come with that endless push into greenfield areas.”

Asked earlier at Monday’s summit about who should bear the brunt of increased housing density,Premier Dominic Perrottet said that unlike the previous Labor administration,his government built roads and metro lines before the population reached the point where they were needed.

“It’s about making sure as we grow,we grow well,and ultimately,the future growth of our city is in the west,” he said. “That’s not a bad thing.”

Campbelltown City Council director of city growth Rebecca Grasso said a lot of new greenfield development did not successfully connect people with jobs,so maximising existing metropolitan centres and infrastructure through higher density was important.

Density also had a perception problem,she said. “People perceive a lower quality of life or a lower sense of wellbeing when it comes to living in density and that is absolutely not the case,and that’s very well demonstrated overseas with good planning,” she said.

“Greenfield is a challenge and will continue to be a challenge because we cannot follow with infrastructure,it needs to precede,[but] when it comes to creating business cases around infrastructure,it’s about trying to demonstrate existing demand.”

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