The population of the inner-west suburb of Leichhardt is set to double if NSW Labor and the Inner West Council’s (IWC) gets their planning changes in.

About 10,000 new dwellings are proposed for the area, which is included in the state government’s Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy, the Parramatta Road Corridor Urban Transformation Strategy (PRCUTS) and the IWC’s Our Fairer Future Plan (OFF).

Doodie Herman, Leichhardt resident, artist and member of community action group Leichhardt Matters, told Green Left the plans would be “absolutely disastrous” for the suburb.

“Leichhardt is totally slammed; we have three different planning instruments coming at us … all of them are so conflicting that it’s hard to know exactly what is going to happen. They are talking about mowing down a completely functioning suburb with heritage areas and strong character; it doesn’t make any sense.”

Herman said the council-government proposals could not be achieved without massive demolitions. “The old three- and four- storey walk-ups will be the first places to go. It’s all very well for the owners of those blocks, but the renters who are living in them are just going to get evicted. Replacing those relatively affordable homes will take many years. Where are all those evicted renters going to go?”

Herman said residents have been “cut out” of the........

© Green Left Weekly