Owner of landmark home speaks out over council’s development approval delays

The owner of a landmark home has spoken out against her local council amid an ongoing stalemate in the amount of time it’s taking to have ‘urgent’ upgrade works to the heritage-listed property approved.

The owner of a landmark home has spoken out against her local council amid an ongoing stalemate in the amount of time it’s taking to have “urgent” upgrade works to the heritage-listed property approved.

The property owner has expressed frustration at Willoughby Council over a $595,000 development application to carry out alterations to a regal property that has stood in Castlecrag for more than nine decades.

The four-bedroom property is one of Sydney’s rarest architectural homes and is known for its prominent Martello tower – thought to be one of only two structures of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere with the other located at Fort Denison in Sydney Harbour.

Ms owner – who bought the property after it was listed for sale in 2022 – lodged plans with the council in December to carry out works to address “poor groundwater drainage” which she said had caused dampness and presented risks to the heritage fabric of the building.

The proposal also involved replacing the existing carport to create an enclosed garage, refurbishments of the kitchen to enable improved connection to the rest of the house and replacing a driveway to manage stormwater flows away from the house.

But eight months on, the plans remain in the assessment stages by the council and the owner said there was no end in sight in having the proposal determined.

“It’s not a big renovation – these are maintenance issues to address critical drainage works and it’s becoming beyond the pale to what should be a straightforward application to consider,” she said.

“The risk of flooding is so significant that I’m concerned about being away from the property each time it rains.

 ”I’ve got a heritage architect working with me who worked on the property before but there’s still back and forth with the council, a lack of responsiveness and staff turnover which has led to the delays.

“If the works aren’t carried out, the issues will get worse, and I’m at the point where I’m considering walking away and not investing the money in the property.”

The planning stalemate comes as NSW councils face pressure from the state government to speed up the amount of time it takes to determine development applications.

Across NSW, it takes councils an average of 114 days to approve or reject applications – almost three times longer than the 40-day target.

Willoughby Council ranked the state’s sixth slowest council to determine development applications with proposals taking an average of 198 to be finalised.

The council spokeswoman said the development application was “complex" and the property was also located in a heritage conservation area which has added a “unique complexity” to the assessment process.

“Council is continuing to work with the applicant to resolve the issues, and is assessing revised plans which were submitted on June 17. The applicant has been highly co-operative in working to address the issues raised by council,” a council spokeswoman said.

“Council is working to reduce assessment times and is reviewing assessment processes, updating council software systems used in assessment, and allocating additional staff to assessment matters.”

Development plans for the Castlecrag home show the works would also involve the removal of a large lemon-scented gum tree close to the existing house which the plans sated has become an “issues for the longevity of the home”.

It is understood the Walter Burley Griffin Society – which works to preserve the late architect’s legacy – has not objected to the works to fix the drainage issues but has stated the removal of the tree “would be a backward step”.

Plans to the council, however, stated the drainage works could not be carried out under the home unless the tree is removed.