August 25, 2026 — 5:00amA council in NSW Premier Chris Minns’ backyard has accused the state government of under-delivering on housing, claiming Labor’s plan for a key part of southern Sydney falls short on new homes and infrastructure compared to its alternative proposal.The state government’s rezoning proposal could deliver 800 homes in buildings up to 22 storeys high, about 190 jobs, shop spaces, and pedestrian links next to a train station at Beverly Hills – marking the suburb’s “biggest transformation in decades”.Georges River Council has a different vision for the suburb – but it wants more homes, not fewer.The council says its masterplan for 1345 homes spread over a larger area allows for gradual height transitions from 12-storey buildings in the centre to four storeys on residential fringes.It is a marked departure from approaches other Sydney councils have taken. For example, Woollahra and Mosman councils’ alternative proposals for fewer homes have become a flashpoint in Sydney’s housing supply and affordability debate.Independent Georges River mayor Elise Borg said the state’s proposal for 80-metre-tall buildings next to low-rise housing – 12 metres tall – indicated the government was looking at the site in isolation rather than prioritising a broader vision for the town centre.Eight lanes of traffic on King Georges Road. It is one of the busiest corridors in Sydney’s south.George ChanTwo per cent of homes would be affordable housing dwellings for low-income earners.“I would really question if this is creating communities where people want to live, and not just houses for people to sleep,” Borg said. “This is a proposal where the main benefit is with the landowners and developers, and not with the community”.Before he was premier, Minns, as the Kogarah MP, was quoted in the St George and Sutherland Shire Leader discussing a previous iteration of the council’s masterplan. He wanted “an outcome that will revitalise the Beverly Hills shopping precinct but not at the expense of residents and the local amenity.”Rebecca Smallwood has lived in Beverly Hills with her family for two years.George ChanWhile local and state governments agree Beverly Hills has languished, the rift concerns the specifics of renewal, underscoring a citywide pattern of deepening tensions over how Sydney’s growth areas are managed.Ben Balzer snr, president of community group Revive Beverly Hills United, said it was not financially feasible to build the low- to medium-density blocks the council was proposing.“Those developments can only be done at a loss,” he said. The state government’s proposed 22-storey buildings were “the only way this is going to financially stack up”.Not everyone sees it that way. “Feasibility shouldn’t be the community’s problem,” Beverly Hills resident Rebecca Smallwood said.The three-storey unit on the busiest corridor in southern Sydney Smallwood moved into two years ago was proof there were developers willing to build lower, she said.“I’m raising my young son here in Beverly Hills, I’m not standing here as someone opposed to change.The state government is proposing 800 homes along King Georges Road. The council wants 1345, spread out over a larger area.George Chan“The state needs to step in and put people and the community before developer profits. Their plan is not to build a community. It’s not to build homes for families. It’s to build commuter apartments,” Smallwood said.New polling reveals infrastructure is the make-or-break issue determining what Sydneysiders think of higher-density housing, with public support dropping by half if residents believe density will worsen congestion or heap pressure onto services.The council’s draft submission said the government’s proposal was “excessive” in scale, did not include provisions for infrastructure, and had insufficiently considered impacts on the surrounding area.Balzer said the apartments would be close to existing transport, including the train station and major arterial roads such as King Georges Road and the M5.Borg said the state’s proposal to build “pocket parks” between the buildings was not adequate infrastructure, functioning more as “circulation corridors” rather than meaningful public space.She said most of the proposed open or shared spaces were on private residential rooftops. “The NIMBYism argument is offensive. It detracts from the discussion around what is good strategic planning,” Borg said.Implementing the masterplan – which cost the council $305,000 to develop – requires state approval. Planning Minister Paul Scully stressed the two plans were separate processes and would not compete for planning approval.“Council’s masterplan reflects its own strategic planning work. It has not been prepared or endorsed by the department, and unlike the state-assessed proposal, it does not yet have a funded pathway to delivery,” Scully said.As of July, NSW was about 40 per cent behind the rate required to meet the government’s commitment to build 377,000 homes by mid-2029 under the National Housing Accord.The council’s masterplan is on public exhibition until September 27, while the state’s proposal will close on September 10.Georges River Council has also identified Kogarah and Mortdale as other suburbs needing housing uplift, with master plans either on exhibition or under way.Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.From our partners