SSD at 95-97 Stanhope Road, Killara – Lourdes Retirement Village
Deadline: MON 3 August 2026
FOKE
Friends of Ku-ring-gai Environment
Welcome to FOKE
Friends of Ku-ring-gai Environment is a community group dedicated to the conservation and protection of Ku-ring-gai’s built and natural environment. On behalf of residents we work for the maintenance of Ku-ring-gai’s built and natural heritage and the enhancement of its existing character and amenity.
A Voice for Nature
Interview with Professor Brendon Wintle talking about the depth of the extinction crisis
FOKE E-News July 2026
Synthetic turf at West Pymble; Petition;
SSD Lourdes Retirement Village Killara deadline MON 3 August 5pm; SSD Seniors Montefiore Seniors Housing at 19-25 College Crescent, St Ives deadline by WED 5 August 5pm
Say NO to Rescission motion to FAST TRACKING Synthetic Grass
Say NO to rescission motion that aims to FAST TRACK Synthetic Grass on Noman Griffiths Oval at West Pymble. EMAIL councillors@krg.nsw.gov.au before WED 29 July 2026 Extraordinary Council meeting.
Endless towers no solution to affordable housing
Read Dr Kate Shaw's Opinion Piece - 'There is a way to make homes cheaper. Building endless towers is not', Sydney Morning Herald, 18 July 2026
NSW Govt wants to REDUCE development controls
While this is described as a 'Discussion Paper' there will be no further exhibition before the proposed
reforms are implemented. Submissions close 5:00pm 30 July 2026
HDA bypasses Ku-ring-gai Council
Minns' HDA recommended 1,646 new dwellings for Ku-ring-gai at their 17 February 2026 meeting
SSD at 5-9 Cowan Rd, St Ives APPROVED
It is with great disappointment that FOKE has to inform residents that this blatant overdevelopment – the residential flat building with in-fill affordable housing at 5-9 Cowan Road, St Ives
FOKE eNews
Calling on FOKE Members & Supporters to write submissions for amended SSDs: 21, 23 & 25 McIntosh Street & 55 Werona Avenue, GORDON (SSD-83478456) AND 5-9 Cowan Road, ST IVES (SSD-88948458)
‘The Blue Mountains — Still Not Another Suburb of Sydney’
FOKE supports the Blue Mountains Conservation Society and signed their SMH open letter to NSW Minister Paul Scully, Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, 15 June 2026
Speak Up for ‘Tulkiyan’
Speak up for 'Tulkiyan' Historic House at the Ku-ring-gai Council Public Forum on Tuesday 9 June 2026. YOU NEED TO REGISTER by Mon 8 June 2026
Speak Up for Marian Street Theatre
Speak up for Marian St Theatre at the Ku-ring-gai Council Public Forum on Tuesday 9 June 2026. YOU NEED TO REGISTER by Mon 8 June 2026
SSD – 1&1A Edward Street & 25-27 Rosedale Rd, Gordon
URGENT - SUBMISSION DUE WED 1 June 2026 for SSD SSD-85549710 at 1 & 1A Edward St and 25-27 Rosedale Rd, Gordon
SMH Revelations
Read a SMH article that raises questions about ethics, probity and undue influence amongst MPs, Councillors and Council staff?
Petition – Genuinely Affordable Housing
Sign e-petition: Save Genuinely Affordable Housing from New Planning Rule Exploitation
Save Our Heritage Rally
East Gordon residents protested - at yet another demolition that should have been heritage protected. on Saturday 23 May 2026.
Important dates
Ku-ring-gai Development Control Plan (KDCP) Amendment 13
With the introduction of the NSW Government Low and Mid-rise (LMR) and Transport Oriented Deveopment (TOD) housing reforms, developers are claiming that the current Ku-ring-gai Development Control Plan (KDCP) does not apply.
Council’s legal advice is that the controls continue to apply despite the KDCP not being updated.
However, the advice is that an updated KDCP will ensure these controls are consistent with, and applicable to, any development introduced under the NSW Government Housing reforms.
The amended KDCP is available for review via Council’s ‘Your Say’ link KDCP Amendment 13.
You can now review and comment on these amendments until Thursday 16 July 2026.
Send your comments, marked with the reference number ‘S15328-3’ by email to krg@krg.nsw.gov.au; or Mail to General Manager, Ku-ring-gai Council, Locked Bag 1006, Gordon NSW 2072.
Deadline is 5pm on Thursday 16 July 2026.
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Friends of Kuringgai Environment
FOKE is a community group with a focus across the Ku-ring-gai area, defending our natural heritage and opposing inappropriate overdevelopment.
Read FOKE’s summary of Dr Kate Shaw’s article below:![]()
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Dr Kate Shaw, University of Melbourne urban geographer recently wrote an article following her four week study tour in Turkey attending the International Network for Urban Research and Action (INURA).![]()
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The INURA invite local researchers and activists to see the ‘underbelly’ of a city – this time seeing the dark side of Turkey’s urban high-rise currently on “steroids”.![]()
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40 storey high rise apartment towers can now be seen across the landscape with the consequential loss of arable land and where basic infrastructure is now pushed to the limits. Discrete towns have merged into one massive high-rise city.![]()
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Despite the enormous increase in supply – prices and rents have not come down. Why?![]()
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Dr Kate Shaw argues ” . . . it is due partly to the new builds being firmly up-market, partly to collusion, and partly to many being financed by elites from war-torn countries who have no interest yet in releasing their parked holdings”.![]()
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Many governments around the world find it difficult to tax empty dwellings. Nor do they collect data about the number of vacant dwelligs.![]()
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Turkey is now being seen as an example of extreme hyper high rise development bringing massive economic and social problems. However, this is happening in most cities across the world. High rise apartments are being built for the high-end property market at higher prices that cement housing scarcity.![]()
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Incredulously in recent years an oversupply of apartment towers has been demolished in China due to poor and illegal construction. The apartments were too expensive for the local residents, or they were built in areas with low demand. Dr Kate Shaw says “the underlying motive for these enormously costly explosions is to keep residential prices high”.![]()
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China has addressed their housing surplus problem with demolition. Other cities around the world face similar challenges.![]()
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Over the past 20 years, Vancouver and Toronto’s ‘condo boom’ have increased the number of apartments. Despite the increase in supply they remain unaffordable.![]()
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“It was only when dramatic cuts were made to immigration two years ago, along with interest rate hikes and tighter mortgage tests in an effort to cool the market by reducing demand, that prices began to stabilise” says Dr Kate Shaw.![]()
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In June 2026 the Canadian government announced a program to deal with the problem of apartment oversupply. They bought unsold condos to provide “affordable” housing. This saved developers from having to lower their sale prices.![]()
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Property investors and developers have no interest in bringing housing prices down. Nor are governments interested in bringing housing prices down as they depend on housing construction and cranes to signal of economic growth.![]()
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Dr Kate Shaw says, “In Australia, real estate and infrastructure development and the financialisation of housing are among the best our state and federal governments have to offer our cities. To reconcile this with consequently glaring social injustices, they cling to the delusion that the market will build into surplus until prices come down, redressing housing precarity and homelessness, and leading us out of our affordable housing crisis, hallelujah”.![]()
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However, construction costs are now making the building of housing less profitable. Developers know that a government’s plans to fast-track new high-rise towers is not viable without a substantial increase in the prices of apartments.![]()
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Developers and investors in the Australian housing market, when faced with price downturns, tend to leave buildings empty and just stop building. They don’t yet follow the Chinese model of blowing them up or begging for government bailouts – yet.![]()
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The housing nightmare is about addiction to the free-market ideology. Government have abandoned their role in building public housing.![]()
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The global evidence is in. Private markets resist bringing prices down. Developers will never build affordable housing. They will build high-end product that brings them the highest profit.![]()
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Governments could solve the housing affordable crisis. They are in a unique position to having the resources and the capacity to build when and what the market cannot or will not. It costs a lot but Australia is a rich country and should be able to spare $368 billion to address the problem.![]()
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Cities around the world are facing densification and unaffordable housing as never before. Yet governments and commentators keep sprouting the propaganda that the solution is “supply, supply, supply”. It’s a dangerous time for cities and the people living in them.![]()
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For the full article by Dr Kate Shaw, University of Melbourne, read it HERE
www.foke.org.au/tell-council-no-to-synthetic-grass-2/![]()
Say no to synthetic grass![]()
Please share with your networks ![]()
In a move that will have serious consequences for Ku-ring-gai Council’s ability to maintain our infrastructure and fund other projects, a group of councillors have called an urgent meeting for next Wednesday 29th to increase the budget for Norman Griffith oval synthetic development to over $20.2 million with the possibility of further increases.![]()
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This is a 650% blowout from its original budget of $3.1 million and comes just a week after residents have received a 29% rate rise.![]()
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In a major turnaround from a decision made just over 10 weeks ago, Councillor Martin Smith, Jeff Pettitt and Sam Ngai have decided they can’t wait 6 days for independent expert advice on the best way forward for the upgrade of Norman Griffith oval.![]()
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Council commissioned NSW Public Works to cost alternative options for the synthetic project after it was revealed that after $12.2 million and 3 years of construction, they have to abort work and start again with a new design. (pp2,172). The flood detention system they built from aggregate is ‘unfit for purpose’ and council decided they needed to replace it with an expensive new concrete detention system to keep the synthetic oval flood free.![]()
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One would think this would be a good time to assess the right road ahead given the huge expense and financial exposure the project entails. It is already Australia’s most expensive soccer pitch.![]()
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In another backflip, they also propose to cancel the planned consultation they also voted for 10 weeks ago which they said was needed because:![]()
“ spending $20.2 million is far in excess of council’s initial budget for the Norman Griffith’s field upgrade and that the community may have formed a different opinion on a synthetic upgrade versus a natural turf upgrade had they known the total potential project cost”.![]()
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Added to their chopping board is a planned investigation into upgrading ovals around Ku-ring-gai
ATTENTION Ku-ring-gai Rate Payers.![]()
The Norman Griffiths oval development has spiralled out of control. After stopping and paying for an independent review and supporting a community consultation, councillors now want to override this review process and pour over $20 million into the development of ONE soccer pitch. (Australia's most expensive soccer pitch). ![]()
WHAT CAN YOU DO?![]()
Write an urgent email to all councillors at councillors@krg.nsw.gov.au![]()
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Ask them why they don’t want to wait for the report or hear from the community. ![]()
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Register for the public forum on Tuesday 28 July at 6pm and tell them you deserve a say on how our money is spent!![]()
REGISTER HERE: www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Council/Council-meetings/Council-Meetings-and-Public-Forums?fbclid=IwY2xjawTNN...
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A must watch Four Corners programme which can be viewed on ABC IView![]()
See iview.abc.net.au/video/NC2603H022S00
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