This was published 4 years ago
Residents angry as high-rise plan for St Leonards South given green light
By Megan Gorrey
Frustrated residents have accused the Berejiklian government of rejecting independent planning advice and community concerns in approving a proposal to allow higher density development on the lower north shore.
Two reports, one from the Independent Planning Commission and another from a design workshop commissioned by the Planning Department, argued plans to build 2400 new homes in the "St Leonards South" precinct, backed by Lane Cove Council, amounted to overdevelopment and lacked public open space.
An artist's impression of the "St Leonards South" precinct, showing nearly 2000 homes in buildings up to 19 storeys high in the bottom right.
But the council and state government are pushing ahead with plans to redevelop the precinct as some councils in Sydney's north and east seize on the pandemic to lobby for lower targets for housing development in their areas.
The government approved a proposal to allow construction of nearly 2000 homes in towers up to 19 storeys high south of the Pacific Highway under plans for more intensive development across St Leonards and Crows Nest.
It represents a win for developers who have spent about $500 million acquiring about 90 suburban lots over the past eight years – in anticipation the land would be rezoned – and who can lodge development applications for taller buildings from November.
But the decision has angered campaigners who have long argued against plans for the site on the grounds they include negligible open space, are poorly designed and would over-stretch transport and social infrastructure.
"Why do they bother having community consultation? Because it seems to count for nothing in the end," Greenwich Community Association president Merri Southwood said.
"I think we're caught up in this 'development at all costs due to COVID' situation."
The planning or rezoning proposal for St Leonards South, which has been supported by the council as a way of delivering housing demanded by the government, covers a 6.5-hectare site to the south of St Leonards station.
Lane Cove mayor Pam Palmer said the council needed to accommodate 3500 new dwellings by 2026 and "this was the most sensible place to look at for more development".
A design workshop attended by senior planning bureaucrats suggested a grid-like layout around a central park.
Last year, the IPC's criticism of the council's proposal for St Leonards South prompted the Department of Planning, Infrastructure and Environment to set up a "design charrette", or workshop, with senior planning bureaucrats, including NSW Government Architect Abbie Galvin.
The department's report from that meeting recommended changes, including a large central park, locating the tallest buildings at the north-eastern side of the site and a grid-like layout of blocks to improve accessibility.
The final plan for St Leonards South - bordered by the red dotted line - doesn't include a central park.Credit: NSW government
But a council report in May said it was "clear that a number of the charrette recommendations are not supportable on physical amenity, viability reasons and cannot be implemented within a reasonable timeframe".
The council said changing to a central park would cost the council $60 million and was "therefore not achievable", arguing that consolidating pocket parks would result in less open space and the grid-like pattern would not boost the site's accessibility.
"I really do feel we listened and did our best to respond to the consultation, the IPC and the design charrette, not in the exact terms but the spirit," Cr Palmer said.
But Ms Southwood wrote to Planning and Public Spaces Minister Rob Stokes with concerns the final plan had "no regard for community views, the IPC advice or the recommendations of the design charrette".
"It is very clear that [St Leonards South] has been the sacrificial lamb in the housing target obsession for St
Leonards and Crows Nest," she wrote.
A spokesman for the Planning Department said the council revised its plan to address matters raised by the IPC and the charette by reducing the number of homes by 17 per cent and adding 3500 square metres of open space.
"The amended proposal has reduced the impact of any future development on surrounding low-density residential areas, public space, infrastructure, traffic and parking," the spokesman said.
Lane Cove councillors will consider more detailed development controls for the site at a meeting on Monday, before the new planning laws come into effect on November 1.