Figures released by Urban Taskforce Australia yesterday revealed that 427 public housing units and houses in the region had been self-approved by the State Government in the past year.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, one in 10 houses built in NSW in the six months to September were public housing homes, compared with one in 25 in the previous two years.

Urban Taskforce chief executive Aaron Gadiel said the acceleration in public housing approvals threatened to skew the Hunter's urban landscape as private sector applications remained caught in red tape.

"The Government should be encouraging a mix of housing type and ownership," Mr Gadiel said.

The figures have reignited debate among Hunter residents who have criticised new planning laws which allow the State Government to bypass local councils and "self-approve" public housing under a federal plan to stimulate the economy.

Swansea resident Graham Ellercamp said the Government had ignored good planning techniques in its haste to meet a promise to build 10,000 new public housing dwellings across the state within 12 months.

A two-storey, 24-unit complex is earmarked for two blocks near Mr Ellercamp's home in Boyd Street.

"Some units have two bedrooms so you could have anything up to 40 or 50 people living on two blocks of land," he said.

"There's no public transport in Swansea, we don't have a footpath, the nearest shop is more than a kilometre away; the infrastructure needed to support these types of units just isn't here.

"They [NSW Government] have just looked at the land they had available and are putting as many people on there as possible."

But Minister for Housing David Borger defended the Hunter projects yesterday, saying they were critical in addressing the high demand for social housing in NSW.

"The [State Environmental Planning Policy Affordable Rental Housing 2009] allows Housing NSW to self-approve projects no larger than 20 units in size and 8.5 metres in height if they are complying developments," Mr Borger said.

"This does not mean good planning processes are bypassed."

NSW upper house MP Robyn Parker said the fast-tracked approvals were ill thought out and the State Government was making "serious mistakes".