A new two stage housing project will be delivered in Lithgow thanks to $1.4m in funding from the NSW Government to support 222 new homes. Lithgow City Council has set aside $1.9 million to fund the project totally $3.3 million.

Member for Bathurst Paul Toole said Lithgow City Council was one of 21 regional councils to benefit from the $30 million Regional Housing Fund.

“The funding is an incentive for the council doing the planning work necessary to implement the Regional Housing Taskforce’s recommendations locally and fast-track the delivery of new housing in its region.

“Half of the funding will be given upfront, while the remainder will be delivered if the strategic planning initiative milestones have been met.”

The recommendations given by the Regional Housing Taskforce include;

- Delivery of Local Housing Strategy to improve housing supply planning.

- Residential land subdivision to meet market demand for diverse, smaller, compact housing typologies. Includes land acquisition to facilitate development.

- Comprehensive review of Council’s development contributions framework and policies, to ensure clarity and support developer confidence in creating new housing.

Mr Toole said Lithgow City Council will need to complete this by the end of 2022 to be eligible for the second phase of funding.

“This important planning work will lay the foundation to enable the delivery of 102 new homes in Lithgow by 2040.”

The South Bowenfels Housing Initiative project incorporates two initiatives that Council has identified to directly address the future housing needs of the growing Lithgow region.

The initiative known as the 'South Bowenfels Link Road Construction' will see a 300-metre road extension of Col Drewe Drive being constructed within what is known as the South Bowenfels Release Area. This will link two major subdivisions to the north of the road servicing 222 approved residential lots.

The second initiative known as the 'Hillcrest No 2 Sewer Pump Station' will see the construction of a new Sewer Pump Station (Hillcrest No 2) that will service 386 Equivalent Tenements (ET) by 2025 and 682 ET by 2030 in accordance with the South Bowenfels Sewerage Planning Report 2018.

This new Sewer Pump Station is critical infrastructure whose objective is to enable an estimated 300 approved housing lots to be serviced appropriately and unlock the further 125 housing lots directly linked to the South Bowenfels Link Road Construction. This new sewer pump station will be located on Ikara Street, Bowenfels, Lithgow.

Mayor of Lithgow, Maree Statham said Lithgow City Council remains committed to pursuing all available opportunities to ensure that they can accommodate and contribute to the collective growth of regional NSW.

“The overall key objective of this project is to enable the fast-tracking of new housing supply to meet growing demand in the region providing opportunities for more affordable housing within 1 1/2 hour’s drive of Sydney’s CBD,” said Mrs Statham.

Minister for Planning and Minister for Homes Anthony Roberts said the Government is focused on getting homes built, with the right infrastructure in place from the get-go.

“We are helping 21 high-growth regional councils deliver 25 new projects that will provide services, open space and connections to fast-track a pipeline of new homes,” Mr Roberts said.

“This funding will help accelerate infrastructure and open space projects that will directly support more than 46,000 new homes where they’re needed in regional NSW.

“The strategic work needed to be done to receive this funding could pave the way for more than 113,000 new homes across these local government areas by 2040.”

Strategic planning milestones must be met by 31 December 2022 to qualify for the second phase of funding, with nominated infrastructure projects to be completed by 31 December 2023.

For more information on the Regional Housing Fund, visit www.planning.nsw.gov.au/regional-housing-fund