Housing affordability, design excellence and supporting jobs will be among the focal points for the Illawarra arm of a property industry advocacy group.
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The Property Council of Australia has announced a new Illawarra Committee, including new chair Jennifer Macquarie.
Mrs Macquarie said key areas of focus for the new committee included tackling housing affordability, engaging with councils to help create greater housing diversity, and design excellence.
She said the latter focused on "making sure those of us in the industry who are developing new buildings are doing it in the best way possible".
"Buildings have a long-term impact on the landscape and design has to be a real priority, because what we do affects the wider community," she said.
Mrs Macquarie said research indicated that there was a significant shortage of industrial land within the region.
She said they planned to conduct further research into this, "and look at issues about connectivity into south-west Sydney, and how all of that impacts on the way businesses are attracted to the region".
According to the Property Council, the property sector directly employs 13,640 jobs in the three Illawarra LGAs.
This accounts for 13 per cent of jobs in the region.
"Property is a big employer for the region," Mrs Macquarie said.
"We want to make sure the incentives to move here are maintained, and we can do as much as we can to deliver industrial land and the opportunities to bring businesses down here."