North Sydney Council to rethink Military Rd planning study, Neutral Bay height limits

Contentious plans to increase height limits and density along the Military Rd corridor are heading back to the drawing board in a sign of the shifting power dynamics at North Sydney Council.

Contentious plans to allow high-rise buildings up to 12 storeys in Neutral Bay are all but dead and buried after being rejected by newly elected North Sydney councillors.

The first full council meeting since December 4’s local government election has resulted in a majority of councillors rescinding the Military Rd Planning Study that earmarked increased density along the congested thoroughfare.

The study – which took three years and cost $250,000 in council funds to develop – was aimed at reviving Military Rd through the inclusion of features such as wider footpaths, a public plaza, community centre, and a “creative makers art alley”.

A concept plan of what the study could have delivered.

But the inclusion of increased heights limits alongside the purported benefits had sparked staunch opposition from residents with public consultation last year showing just 12 per cent of residents supported the increased heights limits.

The decision to rescind the plan is a sign of the shifting dynamics at the council resulting from election day that has seen Zoe Baker replace Jilly Gibson as mayor as well as five new councillors elected including Labor and Sustainable Australia Stop Overdevelopment representatives.

A concept plan of the redeveloped Woolworths Neutral Bay site.

In the last term of the council, three councillors including Zoe Baker and Maryann Beregi had attempted to have the study rescinded but lacked the numbers.

Cr Baker previously described the project as being “fundamentally in the wrong location” and could turn Military Rd into a “soulless windswept canyon characterised by cars and B-line”.

Newly elected councillor James Spenceley, who co-tabled the rescission motion at this week’s council meeting, said the study had been a major sticking point among voters in the lead-up to the election.

“This is a significant issue for the community at large (who are) predominantly against increasing the height to 12 storeys," he said.

A concept plan of one of the planning applications lodged within Neutral Bay.

Also speaking against the study was councillor Ian Mutton – a previous supporter of the study during the last council term.

“Was it worth allowing building heights for 12 storeys in return for a park or a plaza, at the time I thought it was but in the lead up to the election it became extremely clear to me that there is almost no appetite in North Sydney let alone Neutral Bay for an expansion of building heights” he said.

The study has already generated several development proposal including a multistorey development at 12-14 Waters Rd lodged to the council this month.

The decision to rescind the study will also have implications for other landholders including Coles which owns the Neutral Bay Woolworths site.

The study has been in development since 2018.

A report by council’s director of city strategy noted revisiting the study “in a different light would be a significant undertaking and should be subject to further discussions with councillors in the first half of 2022.”

Councillor Jilly Gibson called for councillors to attend a scheduled briefing session on the issue before rescinding it outright.

“This is only the second meeting of the council and you’re being asked to rescind a decision that was well over a year ago,” she said.

“The study took many years and I believe hundreds of thousands of dollars of council money and we made a decision. The proper way is to proceed with a councillor briefing.”

The study was aimed at reviving Military Road.

Cr Beregi said rescinding the study would be an opportunity to come up with an alternative planning framework.

“To suggest the whole study is a waste is completely untrue. This is not to disregard the Military Rd Planning Study,” she said.

“What we are doing is rescinding the study to take 12 storeys off the table. From there we can then assess what we want for the majority of the road corridor and in particular the sites under review.”

At the same council meeting, there was also support for several other hot button issues carried over from the previous term of council.

This included unanimous support from councillors to escalate a campaign against the Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link projects and opposing density outlined within the St Leonards/Crows Nest 2036 Plan.

There was also support for the council to carry out a heritage review of Holt Ave in Cremorne which has recently come under the threat of redevelopment.