Claymore Public Housing Overhaul Hits Halfway Point

The major renewal of one of south-west Sydney’s largest housing development suburbs is reaching the halfway mark, 15 years after it was first announced.

The Claymore Urban Renewal Project, among the biggest public housing overhauls in the region, has progressed to Stage 6 of 13.

A Development Application for the stage was lodged with Campbelltown City Council by Landcom in partnership with the NSW Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC).

The proposal includes 198 residential lots, a park and major infrastructure upgrades across 10.36 hectares.

Claymore, about 3km north-west of Campbelltown and 54km south-west of the Sydney CBD, was originally developed as a public housing suburb in the 1970s.

Once labelled “one of Australia’s poorest suburbs”, it became a national focal point in 2012 when featured in the ABC Four Corners documentary Growing Up Poor in Modern Australia.

By the 2000s, Claymore had one of the highest proportions of public housing in the state, prompting the NSW Government to initiate a long-term renewal strategy.

The project was announced in 2010 and received Concept Plan Approval in 2013.

▲ Map of the Claymore Renewal Project's 13 stages with Stage 6 in red.

The plan aims to replace 948 ageing public housing homes with 1490 new homes, including 100 seniors’ housing units (pictured top), shifting to a 70 per cent private, 30 per cent social housing mix.

The redevelopment was fast-tracked in 2020, with the NSW Government injecting $75 million to accelerate construction, bringing the expected completion date forward to 2028—five years earlier than planned.

Stage 6, which covers land south of Dobell Road and Davis Park, required remediation for asbestos and lead contamination before construction could begin.

Tree removal was also planned, in line with previous stages.

The builder and architect for this stage have not yet been confirmed but Menai Civil Contractors was involved in earlier civil works, and UrbanGrowth NSW (now part of LAHC) played a key role in the planning process.