Have your say on housing in Murray River

Published on 15 October 2021

Murray River Council residents are invited to have their say on the development of a new Housing Strategy for the area.

Council have engaged Zenith Town Planning Pty Ltd to prepare a Council-wide Housing Strategy which will consider things like the different forms of housing, servicing and the ‘where’ and ‘when’ of releasing new residential land to meet housing demand.

As a first step in gathering information, Council is inviting the community to provide feedback on how Council should address some of the issues that affect the provision of new housing. 

“Our Council is experiencing rapid growth, so to cater to this changing population we want to understand what our community needs in terms of housing,” Mayor Cr Chris Bilkey said.

“Whether it’s a reflection of current trends of people moving out of cities, or the choice to make Murray River Council home, we have seen an unprecedented demand for new housing over the last few years.”

“The development of this strategy is therefore vital in ensuring we have robustly considered what we will need to meet our future housing demands,” he said.

Murray River Council has already passed State Government population predictions for 2021 and has experienced a 56% increase in housing applications from the 2019/20 financial year to the 2020/21 period.

As part of the project, Council is also undertaking an independent population projection analysis which will be fundamental to outcomes of the Housing Strategy.

Cr Bilkey said the population data and feedback from the community is vital to progressing the strategy to its next stage.

“This strategy is about ensuring housing needs are met now and into the future, so input from the people that live here is vital.”

“Are there any gaps in the Murray River Council housing market which we don’t seem to be catering for?

“Does our area provide a sufficient range of housing densities in our settlements?”

“These are the types of things we would like the community to consider and provide feedback on,” he said.

Residents can have their say via Council’s Your Say platform at yoursay.murrayriver.nsw.gov.au

“There are multiple ways you can share your ideas using the tools on the page, which include taking our quick survey, using the map pin tool, providing a written submission, or simply asking us a question,” Cr Bilkey said.

Consultation will be open until 15 November 2021.

Following this period, Council will start drafting a Housing Strategy for the community to provide further feedback on as part of Phase 2 consultation.

At this stage, Phase 1 consultation will occur online only due to current restrictions.