Silver Lining To High-Density Housing In Eastern Suburbs As Sydney Roosters Grassroots Set To Explode

CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT

The NSW Premier is ploughing ahead with plans to resurrect the defunct Woollahra Station in Syndney’s Eastern Suburbs, and rezone nearby land for up to 10,000 new homes.

In the week’s since the announcement, local NIMBY (not in my backyard) groups have mobilised to protest against the new housing plan, with community members vowing to fight the project in court if they have to.

In predictable scenes, it has become clear that wealthy people who live in affluent leafy suburbs, do not like the idea of having to live alongside an economically and culturally diverse community – regardless of whether they voted yes to gay marriage and the Indigenous Voice.

The NSW Premier has made it clear that he believes it makes far more economic sense for inner-Sydney suburbs to shoulder some of the weight when it comes to opening up supply to combat the brutal housing crisis.

With adequate transport infrastructure, schools, and a short commute to the major services and employment opportunities – the NSW government realises there are far better options for new housing than to just continue building sprawl on the rural fringes.

And Woollahra will be just one several sites that will now play host to higher density housing towers — ranging from an eight to 21-storey height – within an 800-metre radius of the re-activated train station, and a 400-metre radius of nearby Edgecliff station.

The opposition has labelled the housing target as a ‘pie in the sky’ that they have no ability to stop at either a state or Federal Level because the Liberal Party has been smashed to pieces by Australian voters and the Eastern Suburbs have chosen to elect Independent candidates that have campaigned on gender representation and climate action and therefore they do not have the support of a Coalition willing to fight against new housing projects that might slightly alter the ‘character’ of the wealthy Anglo-Saxon enclave.

The suburb’s resin-jewelry draped social justice types are showing their true colours this week, as they staunchly argue against this travesty.

However, the Sydney Roosters NRL club – with a current grassroots of two junior clubs and a couple boarding schools, welcomes this plan.

A spokesman for the club says that the Roosters are looking forward to competing with the behemoth membership bases of South Sydney and Penrith by heralding new generation of knockabout kids who’ve been raised in the gritty flats of Woollahra.