Recently exhibited changes to the Waterloo Metro Quarter raised major concerns about the relationship between the project, the public housing community and service providers.
The developers propose the removal of 994 m² of previously approved space for community facilities without assessing the needs of local NGOs that need such space to deliver services.
The developer also proposes that all remaining facilities space be used for childcare. The project’s own Social Impact Assessment (SIA) found the development did ‘not create sufficient demand for a new childcare facility’ and misreported surrounding childcare services.
Planning NSW’s SIA Guidelines say the SIA needs to consider ‘how different groups will experience social impacts differently’. Instead, this SIA averaged results from around the site and only compared these to the rest of Sydney. The area averaged included some of the most advantaged and some of the most disadvantaged areas as defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The SIA failed to assess how the project impacts public housing tenants as a ‘vulnerable and marginalised group’.
This is not an academic debate. It has real-world impacts. The application ignored its own problematic interaction with locals and street drinkers during the Metro Station build, which saw off-duty police paid to be on site so the project could proceed. SIAs exist to identify such impacts and propose how to manage them, preferably without needing police.
Many of these issues were raised in submissions and the REDWatch’s Submission provides a detailed analysis of the SIA issues. REDWatch asked Planning NSW to request a supplementary SIA from the developer but Planning’s letter to the proponent did not make this request. REDWatch has now formally requested Planning to obtain a peer review of the original SIA and any additional SIA information in the proponent’s response to submission to make sure the proposal adequately deals with the SIA issues that should inform the project.
While Planning NSW strengthened its requirements for SIAs in 2025, developers often do not give them weight and expect ‘on the cheap’ desktop reviews. As a result, SIAs often do not identify social impacts that need to be managed.
In addition, those responsible for assessing proposals often have little understanding of SIA methodologies so do not identify or question inadequate SIAs, their findings and lack of recommendations for impact management.
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Geoff Turnbull is the Spokesperson for REDWatch
