IT'S TIME FOR ACTION! 

With less community consultation than promised in 2023, the Inner West Council has put up their “Fairer Futures” plan for the new Local Environment Plan (LEP), targeting Marrickville and only 3 other suburbs – out of 25 – for massive redevelopment. Where the State Government required 6 storeys, Council wants up to 15!

Once approved, the new LEP will dictate planning and development across the Inner West for years to come. We need to get it right!

WHAT'S AT RISK?

✘ Marrickville’s famous, iconic mix of small businesses, including shops, cafes, music venues, bars and restaurants including all of the Marrickville Rd and Illawarra Rd town centres – even if front sections are retained, buildings will be gutted for redevelopment

✘ Existing low-rise affordable housing, e.g. apartment buildings, boarding houses and shop-tops

✘ Parking in your street and near local shops

✘ Access to a local doctor, childcare or aged care

✘ Period buildings housing popular local venues, e.g. Lazybones 

✘ Green space and tree canopy

✘ Privacy and natural light in your home and garden

✘ The chance to build truly affordable, well-designed, future-proof housing for people to buy or rent long-term, not just for developer profit

Is your home or business affected? Find out at: www.innerwest.nsw.gov.au/develop/a-fairer-future-for-the-inner-west

The housing crisis is real, but this plan won’t fix it

Save Marrickville is calling on the Inner West Council to:

• Build more affordable housing to buy as well as rent – anything below 30% is far too low, 2% is ridiculous
• Include guaranteed social and public housing
• Spread development fairly across the whole Inner West
• Protect Marrickville’s unique character and period buildings – saving brick facades won’t save what’s inside
• Not build high-rise tower blocks on low-rise residential streets, overshadowing existing homes and public open space

LET COUNCIL KNOW WHAT YOU THINK

Have your say by 6 July

• Look at the plans and have your say online by searching ‘Inner West West Council Fairer Future’ – also on display at your local library or Council Service Centre 
• Go to a drop-in session at Marrickville Library: 21 June 10.30am/1.30pm
• Call or email Marrickville Ward Councillors Mat Howard, Olivia Barlow and Vic Macri – www.innerwest.nsw.gov.au/about/the-council/mayor and-councillors
• Make your submission or fill out the survey on the Council website www.innerwest.nsw.gov.au/develop/a-fairer-future-for-the-inner-west

To help you with your submission, we've compiled the following points you might like to include.

Please look at the plans and talk to Council about your specific location. It's important that you personalise your submission an comment on any aspects of the LEP that you like (e.g. retention of industrial and employment lands).

Rezoning Won’t Deliver Affordable Housing

• The claim that more supply will bring down prices isn’t backed by real-world data. Developers build when prices are high - not when they’re affordable.
  
  
• Only 2% of new housing will be deemed "affordable," and even that is temporary (15 years), and still set at 80% of market rent - well above what many can afford.
  
  
• The LEP risks replacing truly affordable older dwellings with expensive new ones, leading to a net loss of affordable housing.
  
  
• Ask: Council should set much stronger affordable housing targets (e.g. 30%, in perpetuity), and protect older, existing affordable homes from being demolished.
  
  

Parking Is Not Adequately Planned For

• The draft LEP limits car parking for new developments to unrealistic levels (e.g. zero spaces for studios, 0.4 for two-bedroom units).
  
  
• This doesn’t reflect how people actually live in Sydney, where many residents still rely on cars - especially families, shift workers, and people needing to travel outside of peak corridors.
  
  
• The policy will increase pressure on already limited on-street parking and reduce accessibility for existing residents and visitors.
  
  
• Ask: Increase flexibility in parking requirements and plan for additional off-street parking around new developments.
  
  

The Plan Ignores Years of Community Input

• The draft LEP disregards the extensive community consultation that informed the 2022 LEP.
  
  
• Promises to fairly spread new development across the Inner West have been broken - Marrickville and a few other suburbs are now bearing the brunt.
  
  
• Ask: Rebalance development targets across all 25 suburbs in the LGA, and engage genuinely with residents before finalising the LEP.
  
  

Unfair Burden on Marrickville and Dulwich Hill

• Marrickville and Dulwich Hill make up just 20% of the land area of the Inner West but are being allocated 38% of all new housing growth.
  
  
• This is not a fair share - it creates "sacrifice zones" and places undue strain on local infrastructure and services.
  
  
• Ask: Spread new housing targets more evenly across the whole Inner West.
  
  

No Strategy for Congestion or Parking

• The draft LEP offers no solutions for managing traffic on already congested roads (e.g. Illawarra Rd, Marrickville Rd, Princes Highway).
  
  
• It also fails to address the parking needs of new residents, which will worsen congestion and affect town centre access.
  
  
• Ask: Plan for traffic impacts and require adequate parking in new developments to avoid overflow into surrounding streets.
  
  

Loss of Local Character and Heritage

• The LEP risks demolishing period and heritage buildings across town centres and neighbourhoods.
  
  
• Areas recently nominated as Heritage Conservation Areas are now included in uplift zones, such as Silver St, The Warren and Moncur St
  
  
• While facade protections are proposed for some areas (e.g. parts of Marrickville Rd), similar protections are needed elsewhere (e.g. Illawarra Rd) or these areas will turn into soulless corridors of high-rise buildings.
  
  
• Ask: Expand heritage protections, and avoid rezoning areas that contribute to the historic and cultural identity of Marrickville and surrounding suburbs.
  
  

Need for More Open Space

• Higher density development means more people using limited green space.
  
  
• Ask: Commit to delivering more high-quality public parks, community spaces, and greenery to support increased population density.
  
  

Loss of green canopy and deep soils from backyards

• Removal of green space, large trees and deep soils from existing front and backyards.
  
  
• Replacement of existing front and backyard green space with non-permeable grey surfaces increasing stormwater runoff and urban heat effect.
  
  
• Ask: All new builds to include green space with large trees and permeable surfaces.
  
  

Sustainability measures to be made mandatory and above BASIX controls

• Developers should not be rewarded for including sustainability improvements above BASIX as these should be mandatory.
  
  
• Very unlikely that increased sustainability measures will be retrofitted to new builds.
  
  
• Ask: All new builds should include solar panels, batteries, green roofs, and separate grey water systems.
  
  

Lack of Infrastructure Planning

• Health services, eg, childcare, aged-care, already struggling with current population.
  
  
• No new sporting fields, community halls.
  
  
• Ask: Infrastructure planning should occur before rezoning.