Post by Bridge Housing Limited

Last week's Committee for Sydney’s event, ‘Plans, Politics and People: Learnings from the London Plan’ centred on how London’s whole-of-region strategy tackles housing and social infrastructure, offering valuable insights for Sydney’s own path forward. A standout takeaway was the London Plan’s bold ambition for social and affordable housing, setting a benchmark for what cities can strive for. Our CEO Laurie Leigh’s observations include • The London plan provides a whole of region approach to housing and social infrastructure across a city with, although it has many similarities to Sydney, also has significant additional size, density and complexity. • The size of the ambition around social and affordable housing for London, puts our ambition for Sydney into context; given the real issues in Sydney around housing affordability, should we be looking for more? • And, as always, there is the delivery disconnect – how do we make sure good plans actually come out of the ground, and deliver on more affordable housing for Sydney? Arup sponsored the thought-provoking event which featured the expertise and perspectives of: • Jules Pipe CBE, Deputy Mayor of London for Planning, Regeneration and the Fire Service • Jo Negrini, Director, Cities and Planning Design, Arup • Tom Loomes, Executive Director, Strategic Planning and Policy, NSW Dept of Planning, Housing & Infrastructure • Graham Jahn AM, Executive Director, City Planning, Development and Transport, City of Sydney • Laurie Leigh, CEO, Bridge Housing • Alex Greenwich MP, Independent Member for Sydney, NSW Legislative Assembly • Robert Saidman, Principal | State Leader NSW ACT, Arup We look forward to seeing how these learnings inspire future action in Sydney’s urban landscape.