'Don't be the Gold Coast': Northern NSW wrestles with its future identity
Solve Property Group’s Northern Rivers Housing Forum has been featured by Australian Property Investor Magazine.
Marked by an ageing population and with a determination “not to be the Gold Coast”, the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales has found itself with an affordability problem, housing shortages, soaring rents and something of an identity crisis.
At the recent Northern Rivers Housing Forum held in Kingscliff, acclaimed demographer Bernard Salt AM, and Gary White, former Chief Planner for the Queensland NSW state governments and now Chief Planner at Solve Property Group, addressed some of the biggest issues confronting the region.
Addressing supply issues and delivering the associated infrastructure is a national problem but one more acute in the Northern Rivers, according to Mr White.
“The dominant plan shaping story for northern NSW has been not wanting to be like the Gold Coast, and this philosophy has been used to justify policies of no growth, no change, no to everything – all promoted as representing planning success,” he said.
“In a rapidly changing world, failure to contextualise what development success can be, is strategically flawed.
“This region is already experiencing relentless change and increasingly might have a future not necessarily of its choosing without well-grounded strategic thinking.”
He cited the exclusion of certain age groups from being able to consider living in northern NSW – due to severe lack of housing choices and high costs - as a case in point.
See the full article by Craig Francis here: https://www.apimagazine.com.au/news/article/dont-be-the-gold-coast-northern-nsw-wrestles-with-its-future-identity
Source: API Magazine