I was delighted to read Katelin McInerney’s “completely inappropriate” comments about high-rise in Kiama in a recent issue of The Bugle.

Not only is the height and size of the proposed Akuna and Shoalhaven Street developments inappropriate in a rural town like Kiama, but at this time when the terms “housing crisis” and “housing affordability” are being constantly used by politicians and journalists, I’m not seeing any evidence as to how these developments might address these urgent needs.

I believe Level 33, the developer for the proposed Akuna Street site, has no intention of addressing these needs.

Their mission will be to make as much money as they can from the development.

Let’s be very clear about this - they’re in it for the money, not for the sake of social enterprise.

Apartments in a block such as this will be high end, most likely a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom dwellings, attracting greedy investors, who will rent out for the highest price possible via AirBnB or local agents, as well as selling to wealthy home owners wishing to downsize.

In turn, the houses the wealthy home owners sell, will not be within the price range of first home buyers.

Sadly, these new units will be completely out of the price range of young and working age people desperately trying to get a foot on the mortgage ladder or simply renting for an affordable price.

As a single 40 year-old woman desperately trying to get a foot on the mortgage ladder in Sydney 30 years ago, I feel the frustrations of first-home buyers.

I was competing against couples with two incomes and greedy investors who already had a home or two! Fast-forward 30 years and it’s so much harder for first-home owners, due to the ever increasing cost of living and hugely unrealistic increases in property prices.

I was fortunate and finally managed it, but it was a stressful time getting there and I then had to make sacrifices by letting out my spare room (and indeed my living room for a period of time) to foreign students, in order to pay my mortgage and have a little bit to live on.

So, I feel for those young and working age people who feel completely hopeless now in terms of ever owning an affordable home. This is the problem we should be aiming to solve, not the luxury end of the market.

Having said all of this, I do not believe Level 33 will ever address these urgent needs; it is not in their scope of work, so the urgency in this case is to ensure that height and traffic considerations are taken very seriously by all stakeholders, to maintain the character of our very special little seaside town.

We, like many others, moved here well before Covid to escape the ‘concrete jungle’ and unaffordable housing of Sydney and it is now beholden to all of us living here to rally and ensure the integrity of our special community is maintained.

We cannot allow the Housing Minister and Housing Delivery Authority to see this as a ‘box-ticking’ exercise to reach their public service KPIs.

The criteria for a State Significant Development refers to major projects important for a state's economy, environment, or social well-being.

In my view this proposed project does not comply with this definition, in fact it opposes it, particularly in terms of the environment and social well-being of the residents of Kiama and those who would like to be able to afford to live here but simply can’t due to lack of affordable housing.

Let’s get our heads together as a community and work through how this problem can be solved with ‘affordable housing’ that really will address the ‘housing crisis’, whilst being mindful of the character and environment of our beautiful small seaside town and the social well-being of the people who live here.

If we want a thriving and diverse community, there must be a solution to provide appropriate housing options for those working hard to service our community and it must be executed in a way that is sensitive to our environment.

Sue Burt,

Kiama