Greens Candidate for Ward 2 Kit Docker is calling for a fairer deal on affordable housing from developers who capitalise from increased development throughout Wollongong.

Allowing developers to build taller apartment blocks in return for some affordable housing is a step in the wrong direction, according to Greens Wollongong City Council candidate Kit Docker.

Mr Docker opposed the changes, in part because the affordable housing it offered wasn't permanent - there is no obligation to retain it after 15 years.

"It isn't a step in the right direction in terms of giving concessions to developers," Mr Docker said.

"I don't really understand where the benefit is for the community in providing those concessions like allowing for increased density or increased height limits and the pressures that are placed on the city and on infrastructure that [see] the aesthetic of the city change.

"At the end of the day, they can sell those homes off. We need to remember developers, the first chance they will get, they have taken all those concessions from us and they will sell it off for profit."

"Our plan is from 2026, we're going to increase that 3 per cent of floor space to 10 per cent of floor space on large developments to be set aside for affordable housing," Mr Docker said.

"This will increase by 3 per cent year on year until it reaches 30 per cent by 2033. "That's aligning with the current policy but with more ambitious targets. They're still phased in to give developers an opportunity to adapt."

"Wollongong LGA has the second highest demand for homeless services in the entire state," Mr Docker said.

"That is not a title that we should have in a regional city, especially given all of the developments that we are seeing going up, but none are being put aside for the community. "That's why on council under a Greens-led council, we will be pushing for far more ambitious affordable housing targets which will actually match the crisis which we are facing."

Ms Whittaker said there was the chance to have both a vibrant city and one people in the future could afford to live in.

"Part of that is providing affordable housing and making housing accessible to everyone and keeping our communities together," Ms Whittaker said.

"We have a massive opportunity. There's a lot of development that's going to be in the pipeline in the next 10 years in Wollongong.

"If we get this right and we get the targets right, when up-zoning happens, we can do those things and we can keep our communities together."

Story by Glen Humphries in the Illawarra Mercury, 24 July 2024.

Greens council candidate for Ward 2 Kit Docker called it "a win for
safety."

"Me personally, I think when it comes to crossing roads, we should
be protecting the most vulnerable," Mr Docker said.

"And there's been way too many close calls along here and, and even
one injury is far too much."

Story by Glen Humphries in the Illawarra Mercury, 20 June 2024.

Greens candidate for Ward 2 Kit Docker and candidate for Lord Mayor and Ward 1 Jess Whittaker joined local residents in Figtree to celebrate a new priority pedestrian crossing at Uralba street Figtree.

Greens MP and night-time economy spokesperson Cate Faehrmann joined Wollongong Lord Mayor candidate Jess Whittaker on Wednesday to launch the Greens plan for a Night-Time Mayor in Wollongong.

Approving development applications to expand homelessness services should be sped up to cater for their growing need, Greens candidates for Wollongong City Council said.

Ward 2 candidate Kit Docker, who is a volunteer at the Wollongong Homeless Hub, said recent figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare showed Wollongong city had seen a sharp increase in people accessing homelessness services in NSW.

"It's disappointing that in the midst of the housing and cost of living crises, frontline services are having to wait up several months or more for their development applications to be approved," Mr Docker said.

"Applications that are crucial to their ability to meet the growing demand for services. I am urging the council to treat this crisis with the urgency it deserves and prioritise DAs for those services on the frontline of this crisis."

Greens candidate for Lord Mayor Jess Whittaker said a DA for the homeless hub has been "held up in council for months and months."

"If it's something that there's a need for the community, it's recognising that need maybe above other things that are in the list and addressing that by liaising with the homeless services working out what they need and how we need to make it happen so that they have those services available to the community," Ms Whittaker said.

"Just working in partnership with them instead of them being put into the same process as everyone else. They are just such an important service and they're providing so many facilities and food and services to people in our community who are doing it tougher than anyone else.

Last week, the city was rocked by the alleged murder of homeless man Raymond McCormack at the Wollongong train station car park. Ms Whittaker said the Greens call to streamline applications from homelessness services wasn't prompted by that case. "We've been talking about this for a while," she said. "Kit volunteers with the homeless hub and has a really good relationship with them and has been talking to them about this for some time. "It wasn't because of Ray's unfortunate death that we came up with this policy. "We just thought that we had it ready to go and it's a really great time to talk about the need in the community and how desperate the need for services for people who are sleeping rough."

Story by Glen Humphries in the Illawarra Mercury, 19 May 2024.

Greens candidate for Ward 2 Kit Docker is calling on Wollongong City Council to provide greater support to services on the frontline of the worsening housing and cost of living crises.

Greens candidate for Ward 2 Kit Docker is calling on Wollongong City Council and the NSW State government to expand the Free Gong Shuttle, taking in the suburbs of Figtree and Unanderra.

Extending the Gong Shuttle south to suburbs like Figtree and Unanderra would address the "shocking" public transport availability in those suburbs, Greens Lord Mayor candidate Jess Whittaker said.

With the funding arrangement between Transport for NSW, Wollongong City Council and the University of Wollongong coming up for renegotiation, Ms Whittaker and Ward 2 candidate Kit Docker felt it was the right time to look at extending its reach. Ms Whittaker said her mother-in-law lives near Figtree and Mr Docker lives in the suburb and she claimed the existing public transport network in the area wasn't good. "I know that it's pretty shocking and it is very car dependent," Ms Whittaker said.

"If you want to come to Figtree you could get on your bike, if you have one, you could pay for a bus or you could drive your car.

"There is no train station and that's another driver of this policy announcement because Figtree isn't lucky enough to have a train station. The closest train stations would be in Unanderra and Coniston."

"I remember in the last council election what was talked about in Ward Three was I think it was more a shuttle between Dapto and Port Kembla, but it hasn't happened yet.

"So you need people in council with a passion to make these things happen. And as Greens, we're always advocating for more active transport, more public transport."

With the renegotiating of the funding split for the shuttle coming up, Mr Docker said it should be the responsibility of the state government. "They're the ones that have got the deep pockets," he said. "We've seen announcements from local Labor politicians - almost $400 million for the Mt Ousley interchange, $20 million for the Bulli bypass.

"Clearly they've got the means and the funding to fund this and we think that we shouldn't be stretching council, we shouldn't be stretching the university to pay for this service."

He also noted that, when the previous Liberal government had looked to axe the Gong Shuttle local Labor MPs Ryan Park and Paul Scully fought to keep it. "They were very critical of the Liberal government's attempts to reduce funding and they spoke a really big game when it came to the free Gong Shuttle," Mr Docker said.
"Now they're in government, they have the power to fund this and, and provide not just the existing route but Figtree and Unanderra with certainty around funding.

"So this is their opportunity to step up and follow through on their words from before."

Story by Glen Humphries in the Illawarra Mercury, 2 May 2024.

Greens lead candidate for Ward 2 Kit Docker is calling on Wollongong City Council to address the significant accessibility issues faced by residents across Figtree.