We bought in Balmain when it was affordable. Rezoning won’t turn back the clock

I don’t see too much discussion about rezoning the bloated mansions of Malcolm Turnbull’s Wunulla Road, where the footprint of his one house alone could easily accommodate a tower block; nor, for that matter, do I see Paddington coming under fire for its heritage status, even though it’s closer to the city and has better transport than Haberfield, a neighbourhood in the cross-hairs of the heritage debate.

Loading

Meanwhile, this one-size-fits-all rezoning proposal even threatens to hand developers a bonanza far from the city, in areas without adequate public transport, areas already notorious for nightmarish commutes. The northern beaches, which has no train stations, no light rail, but does contain some of the last fragments of spotted gum and angophora habitat in the Sydney area, would be rezoned to allow seven-storey apartments and multiunit housing; this, on a peninsula that is served by a single, sclerotic two-lane roadway and is already impossible to evacuate in case of bushfire.

After they’ve cut down the tree canopy, driven away the birdlife and pushed the glider possum into local extinction, as development in Avalon in the 1980s did to the koala; once they’ve created sizzling concrete heat traps where there are now leafy carbon sinks, will the new apartments in these desirable beachside suburbs be affordable? Not a chance.

Fifty years ago, people of Sydney – led by the Builders Labourers Federation and its charismatic secretary Jack Mundey – rallied to save human scale neighbourhoods and pockets of urban bushland that were slated for high rise. The result is the city we have, and it is the envy of the world.

If we really want to help young people and the less affluent get a foothold in the housing market, build more rapid transit, ban short-term Airbnb in urban areas and abolish negative gearing. Look for opportunities to increase density, by all means, but do it with forensic attention to what works best in each community, not with a careless sweep of the highlighter pen marking out 400 metres or 800 metres here, there and everywhere.

Don’t throw nature and heritage under a massive concrete pour that will only enrich developers and leave all the rest of us wondering: just where did our unique and lovely city go?

Geraldine Brooks is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author.

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.