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Ordinary Meeting of Council - 19 August 2025 |
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Item MM.1 |
S14428 |
Mayoral Minute
An update on planning for new housing in Ku-ring-gai
As many residents would be aware, the NSW Government’s transport-oriented development (TOD) planning policy came into effect in May 2024.
Under this policy, the railway station precincts of Gordon, Killara, Lindfield and Roseville were rezoned for substantial increases in new housing.
The main changes that applied to properties within 400m of
these railway stations were a 22 metres height for residential flat buildings
and a maximum height of 24 metres for buildings containing shop top housing; a
maximum floor space ratio of 2.5:1 allowing for buildings of up to
6 storeys and the introduction of a minimum lot width of 21 metres and no
minimum lot size. The height and floor space ratio may be increased by up to
30% with provision of affordable housing.
During November and December 2024 Ku-ring-gai Council publicly exhibited four alternatives to the NSW Government’s TOD policy, with the intention to offer better protection for heritage and tree canopy and improved planning outcomes in the areas affected by the TOD.
The result of that extended period of consultation with our community was a preferred alternative to the TOD that was publicly exhibited in April this year.
On 5 June 2025, Council adopted this alternate plan to the TOD and subsequently submitted it to the NSW Department of Planning Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) for approval. On 13 June 2025 DPHI turned off the TOD for new development applications and State Significant Development Applications (SSDAs).
Timeframe for gazettal of Council’s alternate housing plan
DPHI is now reviewing Council’s alternate housing plan before providing advice to the Planning Minister about replacing the TOD.
DPHI has previously advised Council that the timeline for finalising Council’s alternate plan would be three to four months after being adopted by Council and submitted to DPHI, and that they would explore opportunities to expedite this process.
Council has today received a letter (copy attached) from the Deputy Secretary, Land Use Strategy, Housing and Infrastructure at DPHI that commits to recommending that the Minister take steps to give effect to a final alternative scheme with amendments to Council’s Local Environmental Plan on or before 30 November 2025. The latter date would be five and a half months after Council submitted the alternate plan to DPHI.
It is noted that Council’s legal challenge to the TOD has been listed for hearing in the Land and Environment Court on 25, 26 and 27 November 2025. Relevantly, the letter from DPHI of today’s date makes the following request:
“With these commitments on next steps and so that Council and the Department can implement these changes for Ku-ring-gai together collaboratively and to avoid any further unnecessary legal expenses, I invite Council to discontinue the current legal action against the State.”
The letter from DPHI also describes a number of proposed amendments the Department intends to make to Council’s alternate scheme. Council staff provided DPHI with a response to a number of issues previously raised, including those referred to in the Deputy Secretary’s letter of today’s date, on 11 August. The intention was to clarify and possibly reduce the number of outstanding issues before reporting any remaining issues that had policy implications to Council for consideration. Council has not yet received a response to this submission.
As there has not been adequate time for Council to digest and consider the letter from DPHI received today, it is recommended that it be reported back to Council for consideration at a future meeting.
Listed Local Heritage Items
The TOD allowed for multi storey buildings adjacent to individually listed local heritage items, while leaving the planning controls for these heritage items unchanged. The heritage items are not able to be developed and may be considered “stranded”. To address this, Council in its alternate plan has provided local heritage items with the same controls as per neighbouring properties while maintaining heritage listings. This provides the opportunity for heritage items to be incorporated into neighbouring developments. However, development applications already in the system based on the TOD controls do not have this provision.
At the Council meeting on 5 June 2025, Council resolved as follows (in part):
That as part of consideration of Council’s Preferred TOD Alternative, the Minister for Planning be requested to work collaboratively with Council to develop a process and solutions for current owners of listed local heritage items “stranded” as a consequence of the TOD planning controls, Council’s alternate option to those controls, and SSDAs, on a case by case basis. Council has sought advice on whether the DPHI will consider bulk de-listings of heritage-listed properties in response to heightened concerns from residents. The DPHI has advised that unjustified de-listings will not be considered and that the process for Council or the Department to unilaterally delist heritage items requires a justified position through a full planning proposal process.
I wrote to the Minister for Planning to communicate the above and recently met with senior staff from DPHI to discuss the issues, along with Council staff.
DPHI confirmed that they do not support a process to bulk de-list local heritage items without merit justification. Rather, DPHI advised that the same approach should be taken to delist a heritage item as is required to list a heritage item, which is via a planning proposal as required by the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act.
DPHI have also advised that they are investigating amendments to the Housing SEPP to resolve the issue of isolated sites as a result of developments using the TOD SEPP controls. It is understood that this may involve an approach that is similar to that put forward by Council in its alternate plan. That is, to provide uplift to planning controls for heritage items to encourage incorporation, while retaining the heritage listing.
Some owners of listed local heritage items have expressed an interest in de-listing their properties. As mentioned above, there is no shortcut available for de-listing and the legislative requirements must be met.
The process for de-listing requires a planning proposal and is explained on Council’s website here https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Planning-and-development/Heritage/Listing-heritage.
The first step in this process is to submit a heritage assessment in accordance with NSW Heritage Council and Heritage NSW guidelines as part of a mandatory pre-lodgement meeting with Council staff. The fee for this is $1,761 and provides for staff to discuss the proposal with a proponent and the proponent’s heritage consultant, identify key issues and provide written feedback. It is recommended that this fee for a pre-lodgement meeting be waived for listed local heritage items directly impacted by the TOD planning controls, Council’s alternate planning controls, or SSDAs.
State Significant Development Applications
There is deep concern within the community about SSDAs that are inconsistent with Council’s alternate housing scheme.
At the meeting with myself and Council staff, DPHI provided assurance that their assessments team is following a rigorous process that considers all applications on merit, taking into account the character of Ku-ring-gai, setbacks, landscaping, topography, location, submissions, other relevant criteria and also having regard to Council’s alternate housing scheme.
DPHI are arranging a further meeting for the Mayor and staff to discuss the matter of SSDAs with the Deputy Secretary, Development Assessment and Sustainability.
Housing Development Authority
To accelerate the delivery of homes, the NSW Government has established the Housing Delivery Authority (HDA) — a panel that considers whether major residential projects should be treated as SSDs.
The HDA provides a fast-track pathway into the SSD system, even for projects that don’t meet all the standard SSD criteria. However, the HDA does not approve development applications. Its role is to recommend whether a project should be declared an SSD. A project only becomes an SSD if the Minister for Planning agrees and makes a formal declaration.
To be eligible for the HDA pathway, projects must generally have an Estimated Development Cost (EDC) of $60 million or more in Greater Sydney, or $30 million or more in regional NSW.
Unlike the standard SSD process, the HDA can also support concurrent rezonings, enabling projects to progress more quickly without requiring a separate, and often lengthy, rezoning process.
Council does not decide on proposals considered by the Housing Delivery Authority (HDA). If the Minister declares a project as an SSD, it enters the same assessment process as other SSDs. This means Council is notified and invited to comment during the public exhibition stage and may also be consulted on any related rezoning matters. While Council’s input is considered as part of the assessment, the final decision is made by the Minister for Planning or the Independent Planning Commission, not Council.
Council has listed and mapped known Expressions of Interest for consideration by the HDA on its website here https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Planning-and-development/State-Significant-Development-and-Transport-Oriented-Development-DAs. This information has been interpreted for residents based on publicly available information from DPHI. A direct link to the HDAs webpage is here https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/policy-and-legislation/housing/housing-delivery-authority.
A. That this Mayoral Minute be received and noted.
B. That the letter from DPHI dated 19 August 2025 be tabled and reported back to Council for consideration at a future meeting.
C. That the Council fee of $1,761 for a pre-lodgement meeting to de-list local heritage items be waived for those properties directly impacted by the TOD planning controls, Council’s alternate planning controls, or SSDAs.
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Councillor Christine Kay Mayor |
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Attachments: |
A1 |
Alternative scheme for the Transport Oriented Development precincts - attachment to Mayoral Minute 19 August |
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2025/269457 |
