Wagga’s Tolland Renewal Project gets the tick of approval

July 20, 2023

This article was first published by The Daily Advertiser on 19 July 2023 – Updated 2:05. Click here to view the full article.

Wagga’s Tolland Renewal Project gets the tick of approval

By Andrew Mangelsdorf

The countdown is on with just two months before a planning proposal must be lodged for a long-awaited Wagga development.
This week, the NSW government announced it has given the green light for the Tolland estate to proceed – which could see the construction of up to 500 homes in the suburb.

The project, set to help ease the city’s housing shortage, is part of the state government’s Rezoning Pathways Program and Member for Wagga Joe McGirr said it’s great for the region.

“I welcome the decision by the state government to fast-track the construction of 500 homes in Wagga as part of the Rezoning Pathways Program first round,” Dr McGirr said.

“These homes will be for the transformative Tolland Renewal Project which will re-develop and support the Tolland community which is a great and essential part of our city of Wagga.
“The Tolland Renewal Project is one of only five projects in the first round of approved projects.

“This is a real win for the people of Wagga. The expansion of social and affordable housing is a core policy priority for me and was an election commitment by the government.”
Dr McGirr defended housing as a “basic and essential human right” and said he’s looking forward to “seeing further growth in this area to address the housing needs of our community.”
The state-led development project is expected to deliver approximately 500 mixed-tenure homes, with around 180 homes for social housing.

Member for Wagga Joe McGirr said the approval of the Tolland Renewal Project is a “real win” for the city.

Wagga Housing Industry Association branch chair Martin Keogh said the project was “unique.”
“When that suburb was built, the model for it was three bedroom homes on their own lots, which doesn’t seem to fit what the social housing and inner-city housing requires now,” Mr Keogh said.
“I think you will find the new houses are very compact and not on 700-800 metre square blocks… and they might put some more open spaces for the community in there as well.”
A spokesperson for the NSW Land and Housing Corporation welcomed the project’s approval.

“LAHC has been working closely with the Aboriginal Housing Office (AHO), the Argyle Consortium and Wagga City Council for over two years to undertake the necessary preliminary investigations, due diligence works and concept planning for this project,” the spokesperson said.
“By being a state-led and assessed planning proposal with the support of local council, this will help to fast track the delivery of new homes.”
“Preliminary investigation and planning works were recently completed and the Tolland Renewal project is expected to be presented to the Council imminently for their review and assessment, prior to being placed on public exhibition later this year.

“The Tolland Renewal Project was selected due to community demand for a comprehensive transformation of the old social housing estate. It aims to deliver improved housing and new community infrastructure like open spaces, roads and services.”
Responding to the length of time it took for the project to reach this point in time a spokesperson for the NSW Department of Planning and Environment said the department received more applications than were anticipated.
“Every application was thoroughly assessed, which took time,” the spokesperson said.
A planning proposal for the project must be lodged by by September 14 after which it will go on public exhibition for council and community feedback.