Public servants declare ceasefire in war between planning and transport
Conflict in the NSW public service has made the housing crisis worse, with a leading public servant saying she is determined to end the war between transport and planning bureaucrats that has caused delays in the provision of infrastructure.
Newly appointed head of the NSW Planning Department Kiersten Fishburn said communities were left waiting too long for public services such as parks, transport and swimming pools.
The metro construction site in the heart of Parramatta.Credit: Kate Geraghty
“We always go arse about in NSW – I bet I get quoted on that – we always go arse about and do the infrastructure too late,” she said.
Speaking at a lunch organised by the Urban Development Institute of Australia, a development industry body, Fishburn said there was a “material misalignment” between infrastructure delivery and planning in NSW.
“It’s a signal failure in many, many areas of government,” she said. “It’s not Planning’s failure alone.”
Fishburn was appointed on the same day as former Labor staffer Josh Murray was selected as transport secretary, prompting accusations of ‘jobs for the boys’.
NSW Planning Department secretary Kiersten Fishburn at a lunch hosted by the Urban Development Institute of Australia.
Fishburn said their simultaneous appointment meant they were “brothers and sisters” who would work together.
“We’re going to demonstrate that the war between planning and transport – sometimes it’s a civil war, sometimes it’s a quiet stealth war. It ebbs and flows,” she said. “That’s not going to exist any more.
“We’re going to make sure that we really align together to get great delivery outcomes.”
Fishburn’s criticisms of the NSW public service were backed by her boss, Planning Minister Paul Scully, who said: “It’s true that under the previous government, different agencies had different priorities, and that’s one of the reasons we appointed Kiersten.”
“She also made the critical point that to create housing and communities you need enabling infrastructure like roads, water, schools, parks and more.”
Transport Minister Jo Haylen blamed bungled planning on the previous government. “Ensuring our growing communities have the transport connections, schools and hospitals they need is one of the major challenges left by the former government,” she said.
Urban Development Institutes of Australia NSW chief executive Steve Mann said there was a “real disconnect” between strategic land use and transport planning in NSW: “This comes from the lack of a holistic focus on city shaping and housing and the often-competing priorities of ministerial portfolios and agencies.”
The uncertain future of the $25 billion Metro West rail line between Parramatta and the Sydney CBD has also cast a shadow over the state government’s housing objectives, which is to increase density near transport hubs.
Mann said new Metro stations under construction without planning for housing, jobs and amenity, were a clear example of this disconnect.
“Transport for NSW are not alone in their lack of strategic thinking,” he said. “Road, water, power and community infrastructure are often considered as an afterthought to strategic planning, resulting in significant delays and cost increases which hold back housing delivery and worsen affordability.”
Thousands of new homes were delayed in south-western Sydney after Sydney Water underestimated demand when planning new services.
However, Mann said Fishburn and the Planning Department could not resolve these issues alone as they did not have the power to force other agencies to make decisions to address the housing crisis.
Business Western Sydney executive director and former Labor minister David Borger said transport and planning “are like ships passing in the night”.
Borger said major proposals near train stations take forever to be assessed, with transport bureaucrats requiring endless studies about traffic even when proposals are adjacent to rail lines.
“I wish them luck tearing down the wall that separates these mega agencies,” he said. “They will need to bring a jackhammer because the wall is made of stone.”
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