The NSW government has added Cockle Creek and Cardiff to its list of Hunter train stations where it will impose new planning controls to encourage apartment buildings on surrounding land.
The government announced in December that it would "snap rezone" 31 precincts, including seven in the Hunter, to "make residential flat building permissible in all residential zonings" within 400 metres of the identified stations.
It announced on Thursday that after talking to local councils it would add Cockle Creek, Cardiff, Woy Woy and three stations in Sydney to the list.
The other Hunter stations identified in the program are the Newcastle Interchange, Hamilton, Adamstown, Kotara, Teralba, Booragul and Morisset.
The Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure says it will finalise the new rules around eight of the nine Hunter stations this month. Cockle Creek will follow in April 2025.
The government said Lake Macquarie City Council had suggested Cockle Creek and Cardiff be included in the "Transport Oriented Development" program.
The government is amending state planning policy to allow apartment buildings up to 21 metres, or six storeys, on all residential land and some commercial land within the precincts.
The new planning rules will stipulate no minimum lot sizes or widths.
The government said 12 of the 13 affected councils had cooperated with the department on the program.
It said the councils that had cooperated would be allowed to phase in the new rules on "certain sites to complete master planning and more detailed work on their plan".
"I applaud the councils that have worked collaboratively with my department which has resulted in a TOD policy that is tailored to each location and community," Planning Minister Paul Scully said.
The government has said it will provide $520 million for road upgrades, transport links and open spaces around eight separate "tier-one" zones in Sydney but has not committed to spending in the Hunter or Illawarra.
The Newcastle Herald reported in December that the government's plans contradicted council heritage strategies around at least two of the stations in the Hunter.
Lake Macquarie council has declared most of the land around Teralba station a heritage conservation area to "conserve the heritage significance, landscape setting and visual setting" of the suburb.
City of Newcastle has adopted a master plan for Wickham which includes a "Village Hub" precinct designed to preserve part of the suburb's heritage scale and character.
The hub, all of which lies within a 400-metre radius of Newcastle Interchange, has a height limit of 10 metres and is zoned for mixed use.
