10k new homes for Woollahra as ghost train station brought back to life
Sydney’s exclusive eastern suburbs face their biggest change in 50 years, as Labor forces through plans for a new train station and 10,000 new apartments. The Premier has now revealed fresh details.
An abandoned train station in Sydney’s eastern suburbs will be revived to enable the construction of up to 10,000 apartments, as Premier Chris Minns forces the city’s wealthier suburbs to take on more housing.
In an extraordinary twist, one of the homes near the new Woollahra station that is now in the firing line for demolition as part of the rezoning for high-rise towers is owned by Opposition Leader Mark Speakman.
The Minns government has confirmed plans to construct a new station at the site of the “ghost” train platform in Woollahra, a move that will deliver Sydney its first new heavy rail station in more than a decade.
To help bolster housing supply, existing homes around the new station and also Edgecliff station down the line will be rezoned for high-rise.
Residents will enjoy an eight-minute trip to the city once the station is complete.
The look of one of Sydney’s most expensive suburbs it set to change forever, with the Premier revealing the government would look at rezoning a radius of up 800-metres around the new proposed station.
This comes as the NSW government has revealed it will revive the abandoned train station by 2029 and rezone the surrounding area to enable to construction of an estimated 10,000 new homes.
Speaking to media on Sunday the Premier said the government would also examine rezoning a radius of 400 metres around nearby Edgecliff station. The rezoning would allow for buildings with a maximum height of 21 floors.
The expansive plan could forever change the look of a suburb filled with large homes worth tens of millions of dollars.
It would stretch to area that incorporates part of Coopers Park towards Bondi Junction and all the way to Edgecliff near Double Bay. It would also go close to the border of Paddington.
Just how many homes will be demolished will be up to developers, but the plan is designed to help make up the shortfall of 25,000 homes that had been anticipated as part of the ill-fated sale of Rosehill racecourse.
Mr Minns said it was unknown how many apartment towers would need to be built to make up 10,000 homes.
“We don’t have a number and that in some way will be determined by property developers and builders,” he said.
“We would get estimates as a result of the rezoning master planning process.
“I can’t guarantee it will be 800 metres in a direct line around the station but that is a fair rule of thumb.”
The Premier said he expected the 10,000 homes would start coming online around 10-15 years after the estimated delivery of the station in 2029.
“It’s a decision that won’t be met by universal happiness in the local community, I accept that,” Mr Minns said.
“But the alternative, where we’re effectively saying to the next generation of young Australians, you do not have a future in this city because there’s not a house for you, is intolerable.”
While the footprint to be rezoned is yet to be determined, the streets immediately surrounding the station are expected to be affected – one of those being the address of a home being rented out by Mr Speakman.
Property records state the four-bedroom home was last advertised for rent for in 2023 for $2825 per week.
The new station, on which construction is to begin in 2027 and likely be completed by 2029, is also located in the blue-ribbon electorate of Vaucluse, held by Liberal health spokeswoman Kellie Sloane, who recently came under fire for opposing higher density in a neighbouring suburb.
The Minns government says injecting new homes into the area will help “rebalance growth” across the city, noting that housing approvals in Woollahra lag well behind other local government areas.
The lack of new housing has been blamed for the population in the wealthy precinct plunging by 11 per cent over the past 50 years, compared with Greater Sydney, which has grown by 74 per cent.
The government cites recent reports by the NSW Productivity Commission warning Sydney is losing twice as many young people as it is gaining, while also finding that Woollahra is the most “feasible” area to build new housing.
Construction of a station in Woollahra began in the 1970s, but was never completed.
The government claims Sydney Water and Infrastructure NSW say there is capacity in the water and wastewater systems to accommodate thousands of new residents without major upgrades.
The 10,000 homes are in addition to another 15,000 to be built around Burwood, after the government seized control of the key planning site around the future Burwood North metro station.
“We are delivering on our promise to rebalance the delivery of new housing from the west of Sydney that has accepted the overwhelming number of new homes without infrastructure, towards the east and north of Sydney where there is existing infrastructure,” Mr Minns said.
“For too long, young people and families in NSW have been forced to choose between moving away from the Sydney CBD or not being able to afford a home at all.”
Despite the revival of Woollahra, The Sunday Telegraph understands there are no plans to resurrect the ill-fated Bondi Beach train line proposal, which last resurfaced in the mid-1990s only to be shelved amid community uproar.
Mr Speakman – who lived in the now-rented Woollahra property from 2000 to 2011 before moving back to the Sutherland Shire when elected the MP for Cronulla – said he recognised the suburb “in principle” was a “great opportunity” for many new “desperately needed homes”.
But he said he would await the detail before commenting further.
Ms Sloane also said she also supported more housing in Woollahra, although was critical of Labor shutting out the community in deciding to proceed with the plan.
Join the conversation
Little girl dies after being hit by car
Read more
The one thing businesses demand over demolished dog track
Read more