Overdevelopment of the northern suburbs, the needs of the growing West Dapto area, and renewing the city's planning instruments are issues the incoming Wollongong council needs to address, candidates say.
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Ward 3 Greens candidate Jess Whittaker said West Dapto was an area where the council had the opportunity to "get it right from the outset" by ensuring it was walkable and had local shops, good transport corridors, and schools.
While not all planning matters were in the council's control - such as the location of schools - Ms Whittaker said the council had to create good working relationships with the state government.
She said the council did not always put the community's wants and needs above those of developers, something she wanted to change.
"If it is in council's power to hold the line for the community, that's what we've got to do," Ms Whittaker said.
In the northern suburbs of ward 1, Liberals candidate Cameron Walters said overdevelopment was a real concern.
Cr Walters said the council had to ensure the area's infrastructure, most importantly its roads, were able to cope before considering further residential development, citing an extension of Memorial Drive to Bulli Pass as an example of something that was needed.
"We can't have large-scale development going on if we don't have the infrastructure to support it," Cr Walters said.
He said the council needed better communication with the state government so as to communicate what was required, with an improved train timetable another vital support for further development.
"We need to be knocking on the state government's door around the clock," he said.
David Brown, a Labor candidate for ward 2, wants to refresh the city's planning instruments, calling for a review of the local environmental plan (which came into force in 2010) during the next term of council.
"Land use planning defines the city," Cr Brown said.
"Significant" work was needed on city planning to ensure the right mix of commercial and residential development in the CBD, he said, which had not yet been achieved.
Cr Brown said the council had to talk not only to interest groups and other stakeholders, but most importantly the community about what they wanted.
With many people travelling out of Wollongong to work, he said it was also important to consider how the council could use planning levers to encourage people to invest in the city instead.
Planning and development was found to be the most common issue that candidates running for election in Wollongong identified in a Mercury survey as a priority for the council.
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