28 Storey North Shore Towers Spark Council-State Clash
Image: View of Sydney apartments. Image: Byvalet/Shutterstock
A local council on the North Shore has unveiled a revised housing plan allowing apartment towers up to 28 storeys high within 800 metres of train stations.
Ku-ring-gai Council is aiming to accommodate over 24,500 new homes while preserving heritage areas in this plan. The move comes after months of legal battles with the NSW government over its original rezoning plan.
The council’s proposal seeks to extend the development zones beyond the state’s initial 400-metre radius, incorporating moderate building heights and preserving 80% of heritage conservation areas.
Gordon Station would see the tallest buildings, with developments reaching up to 28 storeys, while Lindfield would accommodate 18-storey structures. Roseville and Killara would have building limits capped at eight storeys.
“The preference for [the scheme] can be seen as an indication of the community’s willingness to trade off additional spread of development to avoid extreme building heights,” council papers stated.
Council’s housing plan expands capacity amid ongoing legal battle with state
Under the plan, housing capacity would be distributed as follows: 9012 homes in Gordon, 9419 in Lindfield, 3353 in Roseville, and 2778 in Killara. While the alternative plan delivers slightly more housing than the government’s 23,200-home target, it modifies density across different areas to avoid drastic high-rise clusters.
However, the council’s legal challenge against the state-led rezoning remains contentious. Ku-ring-gai councillors previously voted to take the state government to the NSW Land and Environment Court, arguing that the state’s plan disregarded infrastructure limitations and green space preservation.
Planning and Public Spaces Minister Paul Scully criticised the council, stating it was “wasting ratepayers’ money to try to stop housing in the middle of a housing crisis.”
Despite the conflict, the state government has pledged to collaborate with the council to ensure that planning controls meet housing demands.
“Helping the council to develop specific planning controls that deliver at least equivalent dwelling capacity to the TOD program,” a government press release from December 2024 stated.
Meanwhile, developers continue to push forward with projects under the existing TOD scheme. Nine state-significant developments in Ku-ring-gai are leveraging the government’s affordable housing incentives. One such proposal is developer Hyecorp $75 million, 10-storey residential block in Roseville, which has sparked local opposition.
Councillor Sam Ngai singled out the Roseville plan as particularly problematic. “The most concerning as it is clearly incompatible with the draft TOD scenario,” he said.
As the debate over development intensifies, the revised plan will be displayed publicly for three weeks, allowing residents to provide feedback before final decisions are made.
