Port Stephens Council will host a Housing Forum on November 10 to address high living costs and new State Government housing targets for the region
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The forum will be the centrepiece of a review of council's Local Housing Strategy with Port Stephens considered one of the top 10 local government areas outside of Sydney with high housing needs.
The situation is set to be magnified with the State Government forecasting Port Stephens is expected to be home to 20,000 new residents over the next 20 years, requiring a further 11,000 new dwelling or 4000 more than what had been forecast in the current local housing strategy.
Key stakeholders from different sectors will be invited to coming together and the public will also have their chance to participate and make submissions.
Port Stephens Mayor Ryan Palmer said the population growth is being driven by the significant investment in Port Stephens and the broader Hunter region.
"It's this growth, combined with the cost of living, that's driving the urgency to address housing supply shortages in our community.
"Housing prices and low rental vacancies across Port Stephens have begun to push middle income families out of the market - people aren't able to live in the neighbourhoods that they work in and are facing difficulties finding the type of homes that are right for their family.
"It's impacting our local businesses who are struggling to attract workers, particularly in the aged care, tourism, hospitality and health sectors."
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Port Stephens' ability to cater for the new dwellings is compromised by available undeveloped land and conservation concerns, which are likely to require investigation of multi-dwelling approvals on larger dwellings and more high-rise accommodation as well as a potential Byron Bay style restriction on short term rental dwellings let through Airbnb
"We know that we don't have a lot of unconstrained or undeveloped land available to meet this target, so we're going to need to look at more diverse housing options in our town centres and opportunities to encourage more housing close to shops, services and transport options," Mayor Palmer said.
"Over recent months we've been working with our elected council to look at how we, as a community can address the housing crisis.
"We've discussed opportunities to increase supply and the diversity of housing across Port Stephens in the short, medium and long term.
"In November we'll be hosting a Housing Forum, with key stakeholders from different sectors coming together to have in-depth conversations about what actions need to be taken to ease housing pressures and support Port Stephens into the future.
"Information gathered from our discussions at the forum will help guide the revision of our Local Housing Strategy, planned for public exhibition in early 2024."
For more information or how to share your thoughts on housing visit haveyoursay.portstephens.nsw.gov.au/housing-strategy.
