The Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC) has provided feedback to the NSW Government on its draft Sydney Plan, saying housing must be planned and delivered alongside transport, utilities, schools, health services, open space and community facilities.
The Plan outlines how the Government will manage growth in the Greater Sydney region over the next 20 years, laying out a plan for housing, infrastructure, jobs, sustainability and ‘vibrant communities’.
Western Sydney is at the centre of Sydney’s growth. By 2036, more than half of the city’s population will live west of Parramatta, with the region projected to grow from 2.8 million people today to 4.1 million by 2041.
WSROC councils support accelerating housing delivery — but only where homes are matched with the infrastructure communities need.
“Councils are clear: Growth without enabling infrastructure shifts costs onto residents, reduces liveability and creates expensive retrofits for government,” it said in a statement.
WSROC’s submission argues that the Sydney Plan must:
- Align housing targets with funded infrastructure delivery;
- Publish a 10–20 year integrated spatial and infrastructure plan, aligned with local strategic planning cycles;
- Clearly identify NSW Government agency responsibilities and infrastructure timelines;
- Properly reflect Western Sydney’s centres, growth corridors and existing strategic work;
- Fund enabling works and social infrastructure to match population growth.
- Embed measurable targets for climate resilience, disaster risk reduction, biodiversity and sustainable development.
“Addressing these issues will be essential if the Government is to meet its objective of accelerating housing supply without compromising quality, resilience or long-term liveability,” the organisation states.
“Western Sydney councils remain committed to working constructively with the NSW Government to ensure growth is well-planned, infrastructure-backed and future-ready.”
It has called for clarification on how new assessment pathways, including targeted assessment development, will interact with the strategic framework.
“Where such pathways rely on consistency with strategic plans, those plans must contain sufficient spatial clarity and merit criteria to support robust decision-making.”
“The interaction between the draft Sydney Plan and the Housing Delivery Authority also requires greater transparency to ensure that determinations of ‘strategic merit’ are grounded in clear and consistent metropolitan objectives.
Councils also highlighted delivery risks: stretched consultant markets, unfunded expectations on local government to generate new evidence and precinct work, and the need for clear whole-of-government roles and resourcing to match the implementation burden. Addressing these issues up front will be critical to ensuring the framework accelerates outcomes rather than creating missed opportunities and wasted resources at the local level.
WSROC says the broader framing of NSW within the Government’s Plan also warrants attention.
“Grouping most of NSW into a single ‘rest of state’ category risks masking distinct regional economies, infrastructure needs and settlement patterns that require differentiated planning responses.”
“A more nuanced approach would strengthen the overall strategic coherence of the Plan.”
Read the WSROC’s full 29-page submission to the draft Sydney Plan.
