The Tolland Estate Renewal Project was announced in 2022 but has taken years to get going. Photo: Shri Gayathirie Rajen.
The first stage of Wagga’s long-awaited Tolland Estate renewal will be brought forward after growing pressure on the NSW Government to respond to the city’s worsening homelessness crisis.
The announcement comes as Wagga City Council moves people sleeping rough out of prominent locations, issuing move-on notices to campers at Wilks Park and along the Murrumbidgee River, and bulldozing a campsite near Wagga Beach.
Housing advocates have criticised the approach, arguing there is little point moving people on when social housing and affordable rentals remain in critically short supply.
Against that backdrop, independent Member for Wagga Wagga Dr Joe McGirr has announced that Homes NSW will begin construction of Stage 1A subdivision works this month, with the first 24 homes now expected to be delivered before the end of the year. Previously, the first new homes were not expected until 2029.
The subdivision will create 24 residential lots, including social housing, as well as a community pocket park, new roads, landscaping and essential infrastructure.
Dr McGirr welcomed the revised timeline, saying it was an important step towards easing Wagga’s housing shortage.
“I know the community has been frustrated by delays in delivery of the project, but the start of subdivision works is an important forerunner to the construction of new houses that will become homes for hundreds of people,” he said.
“At a time when our community is understandably distressed by the level of homelessness in Wagga, I am pleased that the groundwork for the development of new social and affordable housing is about to get underway.
“The Tolland project will not be enough to solve our housing crisis but, as Wagga’s first major investment in social housing in many years, it will deliver modern and secure homes to people in need.”
Cr Richard Foley interviewed Tolland resident Davy Jones, who expressed concerns about why the government had demolished houses before building replacements. Photo: Richard Foley.
The accelerated timeline applies only to the project’s first stage. Construction of Stages 1B and 1C North is still expected to begin in 2027, with residents due to move into those homes from 2029.
The Tolland Estate Renewal Project is expected to deliver almost 500 new homes when complete.
However, Wagga Ratepayers Association president Chris Roche and councillor Richard Foley have criticised Homes NSW for demolishing public housing at Tolland before replacement homes were ready.
They argue the decision reduced the number of available public housing properties in the short term by forcing existing tenants into other homes that could otherwise have been allocated to people on waiting lists or in crisis accommodation.
Despite those concerns, Dr McGirr said the redevelopment would be a significant step towards easing Wagga’s housing shortage.
The announcement follows another setback to Wagga’s social housing supply after Homes NSW confirmed that the delivery of 12 factory-built social homes at Ashmont had been delayed due to wet weather. The homes were originally due by the end of June but are now expected to be handed over across July and August.
