MidCoast Council is the only council north of the Hunter Valley to receive a share of almost $54 million in NSW Government infrastructure grants intended to support housing growth, despite northern NSW being the state’s leading homelessness hotspot.
The council will receive $1 million through the first round of the Faster Assessments Incentive Program for an upgrade to Wylie Breckenridge Park.
The project will deliver a new district playground and public amenities to improve local recreation facilities.
Councils received funding after cutting development assessment timeframes while supporting new homes, meeting or beating the 115-day benchmark set out in the Minister’s Statement of Expectations in 2024-25.
The funding is part of grants for 30 councils across NSW to deliver roads, parks, sporting facilities and community infrastructure needed to support housing growth. But despite the state policy objective being about housing, the snub to northern councils comes as homelessness continues to rise sharply across our region.
The number of people sleeping rough in NSW has increased 75 per cent in six years, according to a Homelessness NSW report based on the state’s street count data.
While the count in metropolitan Sydney was virtually unchanged between 2020 and 2026, the North Coast and New England recorded the biggest increase, with an extra 617 people sleeping rough compared with 2020.
The analysis identified northern NSW as the state’s worst hotspot for homelessness. Port Macquarie-Hastings recorded the highest increase among local government areas, with 111 more people sleeping rough. Coffs Harbour also recorded an additional 100 people living on the street.
“From Bega to Byron Bay, rough sleeping is soaring as more people are left unable to afford the private rental market,” Homelessness NSW chief executive Dominique Rowe said.
“Some regions which barely had any rough sleeping now have dozens of people without a place to call home.”
The report also found homelessness services were struggling to meet rising demand. Unassisted requests for help increased by 92 per cent since 2020-21, reaching 21,530 in 2024-25.
“The good news is the solutions are very clear,” Ms Rowe said.
“The NSW Government must fund homelessness services to meet demand and also build enough social housing so people have a pathway to a suitable home.”
Planning and Public Spaces Minister Paul Scully said the grants were intended to support infrastructure alongside housing growth, and a reward for high performing councils.
“We are rewarding councils that are cutting assessment times and helping deliver the homes NSW needs, because faster decisions mean people can move into new homes sooner.”
Despite the most in need communities not being included in the funding round, the minister said it was “not punishing”.
“This funding will help councils build the community enabling infrastructure; better roads, parks, sporting facilities, and community spaces that communities need. Importantly delivering it alongside new housing, not punishing communities, and making them wait years for it.”
Eligible councils are now being assessed for a second round of the program, with $67 million available for councils that met or exceeded the 105-day benchmark and improved assessment times in 2025-26.
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