By Megan Gorrey
A Sydney council fighting NSW Labor’s plans for higher-density housing around transport hubs will work with the planning department to deliver tens of thousands of apartments on the upper north shore after reaching a confidential agreement with the state government.
Planning Minister Paul Scully said the agreement struck with Ku-ring-gai Council during ongoing mediation talks would ensure that new homes demanded by the Minns government’s transport-oriented development (TOD) program were built near Gordon, Killara, Lindfield and Roseville train stations.
The state government wants to build more apartments around train stations in established suburbs such as Gordon. Credit: James Brickwood
“Consequently, the planning controls applicable to the Ku-ring-gai local government area in the transport-oriented development [state environmental planning policy] might change,” Scully said.
Ku-ring-gai councillors unanimously voted earlier this year to pursue legal action against the state government in the NSW Land and Environment Court, challenging the scheme which sought to rezone land within 400 metres of the four stations to allow for apartment blocks up to six storeys.
The changes to planning controls came into effect in May and were intended to deliver about 23,200 homes across the four town centres.
But frustrated councillors argued the state government had ignored the council’s concerns about infrastructure and green space. They voted to pursue the legal challenge while at the same time forging ahead with the preparation of alternative planning studies for the train station precincts.
Scully had blasted the council – which he accused of being the only one in Sydney to refuse to work with the government on its housing reforms – for the decision to take legal action, accusing it of “wasting ratepayers’ money to try and stop housing in the middle of a housing crisis”.
On Wednesday, however, Scully said the government was now “supporting” the council to develop planning controls that would deliver a number of homes that matched or exceeded the requirements of the TOD.
This was “consistent with the approach it has taken with other councils”, he said.
Scully expected the process would be completed by May. He said the provisions of the TOD scheme would remain in place at the four stations while authorities worked on the new planning controls.
Planning Minister Paul Scully blasted the council, arguing they were trying to stop development during a housing crisis.Credit: Rhett Wyman
A Ku-ring-gai Council spokeswoman on Wednesday said mediation talks between the council and state government were “ongoing and confidential at this stage”.
An update on the council’s website said councillors had “resolved to accept a mediation agreement” during a closed-session meeting on November 26. The update said further information would be available “after confidentiality is lifted”.
In October, the council came up with alternative schemes to the government’s TOD program that increased density in some areas while maintaining large swaths of low-density heritage housing.
“The council will consider community feedback received on the housing options in early 2025 and then decide on next steps,” the council spokeswoman said.
Scully said developers who had prepared development applications under the existing TOD planning controls for Ku-ring-gai could lodge those applications with the council before May for a “merit-based assessment”.
Developer lobby group Urban Taskforce’s chief executive, Tom Forrest, argued the changes created uncertainty, and “this whole ‘one step forward, one step back’ is really bad for investor confidence.
“You’re dealing with a housing crisis, and the one thing that will stop us dealing with it is equivocation.”
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