Ku-ring-gai Council faces court challenge after rejecting $8.8m Pymble sporting development

A Sydney council is facing a court challenge and criticism from sporting groups over its decision to reject a new recreation facility aimed at addressing soaring demand for playing facilities.

Sporting groups struggling with a dire shortage of playing facilities have criticised a local council’s decision to refuse the construction of a new indoor sports facility on the upper north shore.

Ku-ring-gai Council is facing a court challenge over its decision to reject a five storey sport and recreation hub proposed at the site of an industrial building on West St in Pymble.

The $8.8m development included facilities for tennis, boxing, basketball and badminton and was aimed at addressing the rising demand for sporting facilities in the region.

Multiple sporting groups had hoped to use the space for competitive sports and social games.

But the council rejected the plans due to an “unsatisfactory urban design” and potential traffic and parking impacts on the surrounding area.

The developer behind the proposal, Lorraine Fashion, has lodged a Land and Environment Court appeal against the council’s rejection in a bid to have the proposal approved.

A concept image of the development.

Jack Goodman, who has been campaigning for new squash facilities on the north shore, said access to indoor facilities was under extreme pressure.

“There’s a major shortage of indoor facilities across Sydney and in the last 40 years about 80 per cent of the squash courts in Sydney have been redeveloped because land value has become so precious,” he said.

“But compared to other sports such as tennis, soccer, rugby and golf, indoor sports like badminton have never been given the same level of support by local councils.

This building would have been demolished to make way for the new indoor facility.

“Community sport is more than just football and tennis.

“Private facilities would help address the shortage but we also really need councils to fund new indoor infrastructure because for too long they have been failing to provide the facilities to keep up with population growth.”

A Ku-ring-gai Council spokeswoman said the council’s decision to reject the proposal was partly due to a “significant shortfall of off-street parking” which has the potential to impact surrounding businesses.

Other issues included insufficient details regarding the scale of the proposed development, non-compliant boundary setbacks and an “unsatisfactory urban design”.

Jack Goodman, a member of Willoughby Squash, said new indoor facilities are needed on the north shore.

The decision comes after a study by the Northern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils showed the gap between demand and supply of sporting facilities is expected to rise in the coming decade.

Lion Li – the director of the company that planned to build the Pymble facilities – said high-rise sporting facilities could have provided a means of addressing the shortage.

“The shortage is very serious in the upper north shore – especially for kids training and casual playing,” he said. 

The facility could have been used for sports including squash.

“The only place we often have for group training and sports is in private schools so we hope we can provide more sports training for the public.”

Ku-ring-gai Council said it was committed to providing new sporting facilities and is currently working with the NSW Government to deliver an additional two sports courts as part of the St Ives indoor sports centre at St Ives High School.