Read FOKE’s Submission to Ku-ring-gai Council’s public exhibition of alternative scenarios to the Transport Oriented Development (TOD)
Continue readingFOKE’s Submission – TOD Alternative Scenarios
Video explaining Alterative TOD Scenarios
Watch the video of Ku-ring-gai Council’s ‘Planning for better outcomes, Alternative Scenarios to the TOD SEPP, On-line Forum 21 November 2024’
Continue readingInformation about the FIVE Scenarios
Ku-ring-gai Council is presenting information forums on five Transport Oriented Development (TOD) rezoning scenario proposals around Roseville, Lindfield, Killara and Gordon stations.
Continue readingHousing pushing out wildlife
Ku-ring-gai residents have been invited to comment on the public exhibition of alternative scenarios to the Transport Oriented Development (TOD) that rezones 400 metres around Roseville, Lindfield, Killara and Gordon until 17 December 2024.
Ku-ring-gai Council has based its alternative scenarios on seven principles including avoiding environmentally sensitive areas.
Yet Ku-ring-gai as a collective whole, with its wildlife corridors, canopy trees, and threatened species is one large environmentally sensitive area.
Ku-ring-gai is the ‘middle ring’ that connects wildlife from the western side of the railway line (Lane Cove National Park) to the eastern side (Lane Cove National Park). Even the bushland along the railway corridor has NSW Government signage identifying the fenced off bushland as “environmentally sensitive land”.
One of the challenges in responding to the alternative TOD scenarios is the framing of the NSW planning system that has historically refused to recognise Ku-ring-gai’s environmentally sensitivity and the cumulative damage of successive decades of habitat loss as a result of housing densification.
Knocking down one house means the loss of trees. Knocking down 30 houses along a street means the loss of perhaps 50 trees. Knocking down every house within 400 metres of Roseville, Lindfield, Killara and Gordon will be catastrophic for wildlife. It is common to see, even 30 metres from Gordon Railway Station, bush turkeys, rosellas, king parrots and king fishers and possums.
Ku-ring-gai Council’s data shows that Ku-ring-gai lost 1.4% of its tree canopy between 2020 and 2022. The Council’s Urban Forest Strategy aims to increase the canopy cover to 49% by 2036, which means planting an additional 44,000 trees. How can this achieved with an additional 23,200 dwellings to be built in the next 15 years?
Ku-ring-gai is one of the few remaining suburbs that contains houses surrounded by front and back gardens. This residential housing type across established Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane suburbs is fast disappearing, being bulldozed for ‘in-fill’ low-to-high rise apartments. To build these apartments the tree covered gardens have been felled, bulldozed, subdivided and replaced by hard surfaces. This urban densification increases population pressures on suburbs with increased traffic congestion and demands on water, sewerage and energy infrastructure. Where once wildlife was abundant. They now disappear. Their homes have been displaced by concrete. The fragmentation of habitat makes life more threatening to them.
The anthropocentric focus of our modern society prioritises human need before wildlife and the natural world. Australians are now facing a ‘housing crisis’ that is intertwined with an environmental crisis. More housing supply brings more habitat destruction.
People are utterly dependent upon wildlife, trees and the natural vegetation. Collectively they are our “ecosystem engineers” that provide us with the clean air, soil and water to stay healthy and alive.
The NSW Government appear to be willfully ecologically ignorant in relation to Sydney’s urban bushland suburbs – including Ku-ring-gai. Tim Flannery described are ecological ignorance as:
Such is the depth of public ignorance about Australia’s extinction crisis that most people are unaware it is occurring, while those who do know of it commonly believe that our national parks and reserves are safe places for threatened species. In fact, the second extinction wave is in full swing and it’s emptying our national parks and wildlife reserves as ruthlessly as other landscapes. ”
Tim Flannery ‘After the Future’ Quarterly Essay (2012)
Like climate change, wildlife extinction is an existential crisis. By the time we are made aware of the Powerful Owls’ or the Blue Gum High Forest’s dire future it is almost impossible to reverse their extinction trajectory.
Governments are determined to focus on economic growth through more housing ‘supply’. This means deregulating the planning system, removing environmental controls and allowing developers to bypass local government rezoning controls. The current NSW Government is handing over planning controls to developers who are advocating for a tsunami of high rise to replace Sydney’s remaining garden and bushland low residential suburbs. This will decimate Sydney’s fragile urban environment on a scale never seen before.
The article below Hidden detail on road sign highlights growing ‘problem’ in Aussie suburbs: ‘Reverse domino effect’ by Michael Dahlstrom, Yahoo Environmental Editor, published on Yahoo News, 15 October 2024 highlights how new housing developments are having a devastating impact on Queensland’s urban koalas. The same could be said for Ku-ring-gai’s wildlife. Read the full article below:
While most of us were getting ready for bed on Monday night, a sad situation was unfolding in one Aussie suburb. Clinging to the back of a road sign was an iconic marsupial that belonged up a tree.
Although koalas are used to promote Australia as a wildlife-friendly tourism destination, they are facing extinction in Queensland and NSW, and are listed as endangered. Rescuer John Knights was almost asleep when a phone call came through about the displaced animal.
“It just had this ‘what do I do next’ expression on its face,” he told Yahoo News on Tuesday.
Had Knights not arrived, the animal’s prospects were not good. He was beside a major road, and close to an industrial estate in the Brisbane suburb of Mount Gravatt East. Like most of Queensland’s southeast, large backyards that once contained trees have been bulldozed and subdivided, increasing human density while forcing out koalas.
“When you decide to knock your house down, that’s one less tree and a few bushes gone. But then the bloke over the road does it, and the bloke around the corner does it,” Knights said.
“These koalas have no sanctuary when they’re trying to get from one area to another. So they’re just wandering around hopelessly lost. And people say: Isn’t it wonderful to see these urban koalas. They’re not urban koalas. They’re frightened lost animals because we put a road in where they want to live.”
Koalas a sign of a healthy ecosystem
Knights describes koalas as an umbrella species, as when they flourish, it means the rest of the environment is also healthy. And seeing so many regularly displaced is sign of a “problem” facing Australia’s suburban wildlife.
“If you create good habitat for koalas, everything that lives underneath their trees has a happy home,” he said.
“From possums, to gliders, the owls, the birds that live in the trees, the animals that live on the ground, the insects that live in the bush, the microbes that keep everything working — it’s a reverse domino effect.”
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Why are so many koalas in our suburbs?
This spring, Knight is on track to have responded to 200 callouts by the end of the month. During the season, males looking for mates, and sub-adults looking for new territory often find themselves on roads and in backyards.
That’s because the forest they once called home has been destroyed to make way for new developments. Crossing between the fragmented remnants of habitat often means traversing suburbia.
The callout to help the koala on the road sign on Monday was Knights’ second for the day. Earlier a koala climbed up a power pole at nearby Camp Hill. It was brought down safely and released into nearby bushland.
Australia’s environment laws failing to protect endangered species
Sadly, finding places to release koalas is becoming increasingly difficult, as koala habitat continues to be destroyed. An independent review of Australia’s nature protection laws under the Morrison government in 2020 found they are “ineffective”, “weak” and “tokenistic”. While there have been some reforms since the Albanese government was elected in 2022, endangered species are continuing to lose habitat at an alarming rate.
A Worldwide Fund for Nature report this week found there has been a 73 per cent decline in global wildlife populations in 50 years. While an investigation by Wilderness Society this week found 300,000 animals a year are being displaced or killed by Tasmania’s logging industry every year, including endangered species.
Yahoo News has been reporting on koala displacement since 2019, and the problem has only continued to worsen.
Two weeks ago, in Queensland’s Moreton Bay, rescuers were called to help three koalas desperately clinging to power poles over a period of just 14 hours. While on the Gold Coast the federal and state governments are building a major new freeway, the Coomera Connector, through important koala habitat.
The Queensland government has refused to release environmental reports about its impact, claiming they are “ecologically sensitive”. But rescuers say it’s routinely displacing wildlife, and because of ongoing development across the Gold Coast, they believe the city’s urban koalas face extinction.
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Councils sidelined
Property developers will be able to propose their own spot rezoning and planning controls for large developments, bypassing local councils
Continue readingSuburban Skyscrapers
The Victorian government says Melbourne by 2050 will be home to nearly 8 million people and as part of a plan to future prove this city it wants to introduce swathes of new housing stock to make it easier for people to buy at home, but critics of the scheme say it threatens Melbourne’s’ reputation as one of the world’s most livable cities.
Continue readingFOKE on Planning & Climate Change
FOKE’s submission: Inquiry into Planning System & the Impacts of Climate Change on the Environment & Communities
Continue readingHawkesbury: urban densification, population growth & climate change pressure
Tell the NSW Government that the priority threat is their own planning policies. Deadline 24 November 2024
Continue readingHousing is complex in Ku-ring-gai too
Housing is more complex than a simple nimby-yimby divide would suggest
READ The Guardian article below:
‘Australian cities are desperate for the ‘missing middle’ of housing density, 29 October 2024, The Guardian.
But it’s not as simple as the nimby-yimby debate suggests’ author Peter Mares.
He suggests a more sophisticated planning approach is needed to build homes for more people while still providing greenery and open space
Various housing densities in Brisbane. ‘The holy grail of urban consolidation in established suburbs is a shift from free-standing dwellings to European-style, medium-rise apartments.’ Photograph: Darren England/AAP
The Business Council of Australia wants local governments to be stripped of decision-making powers if they fail to meet “basic timeliness requirements” when processing development applications.
The Victorian government is already heading in this direction. It intends to override council planning to fast-track apartment blocks around transport hubs in established suburbs.
There’s a widespread view that local government shoulders responsibility for our housing shortfall because proscriptive regulations enable well-heeled objectors to block or delay projects. Bolder council action on housing would certainly be welcome. But the matter is more complex than a simple nimby-yimby divide would suggest.
Five years ago, Australia was building homes at a rapid clip. More than 215,000 dwellings were completed nationwide in 2018-19 and more than 1m homes in the five years before that, matching the target set in the 2022 housing accord struck by national cabinet soon after the Albanese government took office. If we’d kept building at that pace, we’d get within spitting distance of the accord’s revised target of 1.2m homes by 2029. Now, though, we’re miles away. Last financial year fewer than 175,000 new homes were completed.
It wasn’t “red tape” and local government delays that caused the slowdown in residential construction but changed business conditions.
Covid was followed by supply chain bottlenecks, rising material costs and shortages of skilled labour. Higher interest rates increased the cost of borrowing for developers and made potential buyers wary of buying off the plan. This has a big impact on larger apartment projects, because most developers need to pre-sell 60% to 70% of units to secure finance before they can build. Overseas buyers are an important part of this market, and in 2017 the Coalition government made it harder to get the numbers to stack up by imposing a 50% cap on foreign ownership in new multi-storey buildings with 50 or more apartments. State governments also hit foreign investors with extra fees, including stamp duty surcharges.
Construction will increase if business conditions improve, though that may go hand in hand with rising property prices, which is hardly good news for affordability. The boom-bust cycle that characterises residential development is one reason why more public investment in social housing is so crucial. Apart from providing homes for Australians whose needs aren’t met by the market, public investment helps maintain overall housing supply in a downturn.
Even with greater public investment, planning has a big role to play in helping the private sector to accommodate a growing population – just not in a way that it’s usually understood.
The holy grail of urban consolidation in established suburbs is a shift from free-standing dwellings to European-style, medium-rise apartments that can accommodate many more people while still providing greenery and open spaces. This is the so-called “missing middle”, a much-needed alternative to the high-rise residential towers creating wind tunnels in city centres and the steady march of detached housing rolling over farmlands on the urban fringes.
Yet high-quality urban infill is easier said than done. A significant challenge lies in the fragmented pattern of land ownership that was put in place as our cities grew. A single suburban lot is generally too small to accommodate mid-rise housing built around courtyards or shared gardens. If we are going to meet our housing aspirations, we need to overcome the fragmented pattern of land ownership established in postwar subdivisions. This means a bigger government role to create incentives for blocks to be amalgamated to a scale to allow precinct-level redevelopment.
Detached houses on separate blocks provide plenty of benefits. Back yards provide space for leisure; gardens absorb rainfall, reducing runoff and flood risks and mature trees cool the landscape. But much of our postwar housing stock is no longer fit for purpose. It was built without thought for energy efficiency or the impact of the climate crisis, and intended for larger households than today. Many houses are now underutilised. At the 2021 census more than 1.2m homes had three or more bedrooms “in excess of need”.
Under current settings, these family homes are being demolished one by one. Some make way for two, three or more townhouses squeezed on to a single parcel of land; others are replaced by McMansions. Sometimes the original house is retained but a granny flat added or the block subdivided in a battle-axe arrangement to fit another dwelling.
Such piecemeal redevelopment brings a modest increase in density but with the loss of the very things that make suburban life attractive. Trees are cut down and open space disappears as gardens give way to concrete and brick. The ad hoc nature of this redevelopment also makes it harder for local and state governments to ensure services and infrastructure can keep pace with population growth.
We are at risk of getting the worst of all worlds. More high-rise towers in the centre and around train stations and more urban sprawl on the fringes, combined with the loss of amenity in established suburbs as existing houses are gradually replaced by piecemeal redevelopment. We need a strategic approach to facilitate well-designed medium rise development at a scale that accommodates more people, creates shared open space and preserves greenery. We need more sophisticated planning, not less.
Peter Mares is a fellow at the Centre for Policy Development and the author of No Place Like Home: Repairing Australia’s Housing Crisis
Housing is complex in
Ku-ring-gai too
READ the FOKE article below that REFLECTS & RESPONDS to The Guardian article by Peter Mares, 29 October 2024
FOKE is calling for a more sophisticated planning approach for Ku-ring-gai.
One that builds a sustainable, liveable, net zero and affordable home future whilst still preserving its high biodiversity – bush turkeys live amongst the Gordon Railway Station Gardens – and its beautiful gardened, tall tree lined streets and bushland landscape. It has been characterised as where the natural form dominates the built form. No where else in Sydney has Ku-ring-gai’s tall dominating Blue Gums that fill the sky with its large canopy branches.
Indeed, in an age of biodiversity collapse we should be providing even more ‘greenery’ that restores, rejuvenates and builds resilience to Ku-ring-gai’s urban forests. They are essential for Sydney and renowned as the ‘lungs of Sydney’.
Ku-ring-gai’s tree canopy, rich biodiversity needs urgent protection. It is where the last remaining critically Endangered Ecological Community of Blue Gum High Forest and Sydney Turpentine Ironbark Forest is left on the planet. It is a haven for wildlife who utterly depend on Ku-ring-gai’s tree canopy for hollows – that takes decades to form, as well as for food, nesting and survival. Ku-ring-gai is a rare urban Sydney Forest that needs planning controls that ensure its survival into the future.
FOKE has always challenged the holy grail of urban consolidation particularly for Ku-ring-gai with its garden heritage suburbs created by the North Shore railway line.
Four consecutive railway stations – Roseville, Lindfield, Killara, Gordon – along that railway line are now designated as Transpor Oriented Developments (TODs). These blunt 400 metre concentric circled maps designate the location of six storey apartment infill development. Yet this “missing middle” threatens to wipe out what many consider an environmentally sensitive area as well as a place that has some of the best domestic architecture in the country.
The railway line that created Ku-ring-gai’s heritage is now threatening to destroy this golden era of free-standing Federation, inter-war and 20th Century architecture.
The North Shore railway line is also on a rising ridgeline with its western side steeply sloping downwards into the Lane Cove National Park. Its eastern side slopes into the Garigal National Park.
Another reason that makes Ku-ring-gai unique. Ku-ring-gai is essentially a catchment to three surrounding national parks. It is a wildlife corridor between national parks and bushland valleys connecting the North Shore to the Hawkesbury to the north, Parramatta to the west and the Northern Beaches to the east.
Ku-ring-gai’s steep terrain and ridge-top development leads to greater flood risk from flash flooding. It is also a highly prone bushfire area.
Yet for past decades Ku-ring-gai’s geographic and ecological constraints have been blatantly ignored.
Ku-ring-gai’s environmental splendour has been significantly eroded in the last two decades as it has taken its fair share of medium density that has been built by demolishing swaths of potential heritage areas and ‘gardened and tall treed wildlife connectivity’. Its natural dominated landscape has been replaced by concrete, hard surface medium-rise apartments. And now locals fear more will be lost forever and irreversibly concrete the landscape forever.
The NSW government is determined to prioritise housing supply at all costs. It is determined to override local government democratic council planning to fast-track apartment blocks around transport hubs in the garden suburbs of Ku-ring-gai.
The acronym ‘TOD’ (Transport Oriented Development) has entered the language. It was created in late 2023 when the NSW Government announced its signature high density policy across Greater Sydney. It undemocratically bypassed Council zoning controls.
Researchers Peter Mares acknowledges that housing is more complex than ‘the simple nimby-yimby divide’ would suggest. Yet few understand the complexity of housing in Ku-ring-gai.
The “missing middle”, a description that describes medium density (around 6 storeys) is hailed as a solution to high-rise residential towers. Yet this too can have devastating consequences for established garden suburbs like Ku-ring-gai with its Heritage Conservation Areas and heritage homes. How can residential heritage houses and streetscapes be respected, protected and appreciated into the future if it has a six storey apartments towering over them?
Detached houses on separate blocks are the fabric of Ku-ring-gai’s heritage. It is what protects the tree canopy for the majority of Blue Gums grow on private land ie front and back yards.
The space around a detached home not only provides space for leisure; create amenity and absorb rainfall and keeps us cool. It is essential for reducing stormwater runoff into three national parks that surround Ku-ring-gai and infesting it with weeds and increasing water pollution that stops people swimming on our beaches.
It is misleading to say that Ku-ring-gai’s postwar housing stock is no longer fit for purpose. They have been solidly built – mostly in double brick. The demolition of these houses and the razing of garden blocks exacerbates the climate crisis. The smaller homes and garden flats are often affordable, but they are increasingly being demolished for larger houses for the same number of households. The new concrete buildings are big carbon emitters.
With Exempt and Complying development many family homes are being demolished, replaced by ever expensive McMansions. One sold for nearly $10 million dollars? How can that be?
Subdivisions basically eliminate the necessary space for Ku-ring-gai’s tall canopy trees.
Twenty years ago, residents described urban densification as the ‘rape of Ku-ring-gai’. Today some are saying it will be the ‘death of Ku-ring’-ai’. Ku-ring-gai’s remaining natural landscape will be bulldozed, razed, destroyed and transformed into a bland, homogenous. 21st Century airport architecture hard surface inner city dwelling. The trees will go. The birds will go and we will be left wondering how did we let this all happen?. Ku-ring-gai’s local character and precious environment will be lost forever.
With perpetual population growth, local and state governments will never be able keep up with demands for new open space, playgrounds, schools, hospitals and other services and infrastructure.
The ‘hungry giant’ is never satisfied. When will the high rise rezonings stop? Nor will the urban densification stop the urban sprawl on the fringes.
FOKE is calling for a more sophisticated planning approach for Ku-ring-gai. And that might mean that we need to start having a mature conversation about how we are to achieve a sustainable long-term future that challenges ‘forever growth’ that will kill us all.
References
https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/files/assets/public/v/1/hptrim/information-management-publications-public-website-ku-ring-gai-council-website-planning-and-development/ku-ring-gai-local-character-background-study-broad-local-character-areas-report.pdf
https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Planning-and-development/Planning-policies-and-guidelines/Strategies-and-management-plans/Ku-ring-gai-Urban-Forest-Strategy
https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/strategies-action-plans/urban-forest-strategy
https://blog.mipimworld.com/guide-green-real-estate/green-real-estate-role-urban-forests-city-sustainability/
.
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YES! these Councillors SUPPORT the legal action
These Ku-ring-gai Councillors said they would SUPPORT the legal action against the TOD as stated in their FOKE Candidate Statements prior to their election.
Continue readingWhy the legal action against the TOD is more important than ever
Read the NSW Productivity & Equality Commission’s ‘Review of Housing Supply Challenges and Policy Options for NSW ‘
Continue readingBirds Colliding
What will the birds do when Ku-ring-gai changes?
Continue reading“Every place is going to change”
It was confirmed that “Every place is going to change”, whether communities liked it or not, at a recent planning industry forum
Continue readingPopulation Growth is fueling the Housing Crisis
The housing disaster will extend for years if population growth continues to be ignored
Continue readingKu-ring-gai a place of high biodiversity
Ku-ring-gai is a place of high biodiversity. It is one of the few areas of Sydney that still retains its majestic carbon-rich urban forests, tree canopy, bushland valleys and stunning displays of gardens that are wildlife corridors and habitat for unique mammals, birds, reptiles, frogs and insects. It is also surrounded by three national parks.
This is something the NSW Government should celebrate and conserve. Yet the NSW Government is determined to destroy it – even in the midst of a biodiversity crisis.
Watch Ku-ring-gai Council’s Urban Forest EnviroTube below:
What is causing the degradation and loss of Ku-ring-gai’s biodiversity?
- habitat being destroyed and broken up (fragmented) due to land clearing for houses and apartments
- introduction of invasive plants, animals, and diseases as a result of urban densification
- climate change
- pollution (chemicals, sediments, plastics, light and sound)
Ku-ring-gai is of national significance and should also be protected by the Federal Government.
| 2020 | Australia’s Sixth National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity |
| July 2022 | Tanya Plibersek, Federal Environment Minister commits Australia to protecting 30% of its lands and 30% of oceans by 2030 |
| Nov 2022 | UN climate summit kept alive hopes of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius |
| Dec 2022 | Australian Government joins 195 other nations in signing onto the adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). The target of GBF is to protect at least 30% of the world’s land, freshwater and ocean ecosystems by 2030 (‘30×30’) – a target both the Australian Federal government and NSW Government committed to domestically |
| Dec 2023 | NSW Government announced its Transport Oriented Development program, Low to Mid Rise Housing and Dual Occupancies that will effectively upzone Ku-ring-gai by 90% and destroy its tree canopy |
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Authorised by K. Cowley, 1 Kenilworth Road, Lindfield, NSW, 2070
NSW fails NSW’s biodiversity
Despite dire warnings from the NSW Biodiversity Outlook Report 2024, the Minns Government is determined to destroy Ku-ring-gai’s environment
Continue readingHawkesbury: urban densification, population growth & climate change pressure
Tell the NSW Government that the priority threat is their own planning policies. Deadline 24 November 2024
Continue readingHawkesbury-Nepean Coastal Management Program
There will be an information session on the Hawkesbury-Nepean Coastal Management Program on Saturday 19th October 10am – 3pm Sustainable Futures Day, Cameron Park, 5 Eastern Rd, Turramurra
Continue readingDestroy Trees. Destroy Civilisation
The lessons of Easter Island seem to have been forgotten. Destroy trees. Destroy civilisation.
Continue readingEntitlement = Tree Vandalism
Developers who vandalise and remove trees to pursue profit should be criminally prosecuted. Read Paul Daley, Guardian Australian collumnist
Continue readingReport recommends even more density
Today the NSW Productivity & Equality Commission’s ‘Review of Housing Supply Challenges and Policy Options for NSW ‘ was released recommending even more TODs across Greater Sydney, including Ku-ring-gai. That’s why Ku-ring-gai’s legal action against the TOD is so important.
Continue reading2024 Comenarra Ward election
Candidates answer FOKE Questions
Continue reading2024 Gordon Ward election
Candidates answer FOKE Questions
Continue readingLabor’s housing plans will fail
Scott Farlow MLC, Shadow Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, spoke at the Save Greater Sydney Coalition Forum ‘Getting Housing Right: Why it Matters – without the spin’
Continue readingGetting Housing Right without the spin
See what Joseph O’Donoghue said at the Save Greater Sydney Coalition Forum ‘Getting Housing Right: Why it Matters – without the spin’ on 7 August 2024
Continue readingGetting Housing Right: Why it Matters – without the spin
See what was said at the Save Greater Sydney Coalition Forum ‘Getting Housing Right: Why it Matters – without the spin’
Continue readingLabor’s housing approach is a failure
Scott Farlow MLC, Shadow Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, will speak at the Housing Crisis Forum on Wed 7th August at the NSW Parliament Theatrette 6.30pm
Continue readingFixing our Housing Crisis
Attend the Forum and hear how to fix our housing crisis without destroying Greater Sydney on Wed 7th August at NSW Parliament Theatrette 6.30pm
Continue readingA ‘reform’ riddled with holes
Attend the Forum to hear what the Minns Government is not talking about and why on Wed 7th August at the NSW Parliament Theatrette 6.30pm
Continue readingSupport Disallowance Bill
Please write letters to the Upper House Crossbench calling on them to SUPPORT The Hon. Scott Farlow, MLC & Shadow Minister for Planning’s DISALLOWANCE BILL opposing the Transport Oriented Development (TOD) program across Greater Sydney, including in Ku-ring-gai.
Continue readingSydney’s ‘land banking’ crisis
Read Greg Callaghan’s article ‘Left to rot: The ‘ghost homes’ scourge in our big cities – amid a housing crisis, Sydney Morning Herald, 13 July 2024
Continue readingFOKE E-News July 24
Find out how you can help protect Ku-ring-gai – a place of outstanding heritage & environmental significance.
Continue readingThe Koala documentary
New evidence debunks the ‘scientific justification’ for logging critical koala habitat. Knowing this, it is more important than ever to see this documentary.
Continue readingVale Don Brew
FOKE member Don Brew (1935 – 2024) was honoured by Ku-ring-gai Council for his fearless and dedicated advocacy for Ku-ring-gai’s heritage.
Continue readingHope – Interim Heritage Order
Ku-ring-gai Council is working hard to protect Ku-ring-gai’s 23 Heritage Conservation Areas.
Continue readingIt’s YOUR home. YOU don’t have to sell
The Transport Oriented Development and Well-Located Housing SEPPs have triggered a surge of interest among developers, leading to a frenzy of activity akin to a gold rush. Developers are increasingly reaching out to homeowners with offers to secure “Option Contracts” for the future purchase of their land.
Continue readingAttend, listen & watch TOD Inquiry on Wed 24 July
The final public hearing on the Development of the Transport Orientated Development (TOD) will be held in the Macquarie Room, Parliament House, Sydney on Wed 24 July, 2024
Continue readingFOKE Talk, July 2024
Read FOKE’s newsletter ‘FOKE Talk’, July 2024 to find out the latest issues facing Ku-ring-gai.
Continue readingFOKE’s President Report, 22 May 2024
Read Kathy Cowley, FOKE President’s Report that tells the work that FOKE has done to protect Ku-ring-gai over the past year.
Continue readingHope – Council’s legal action
Ku-ring-gai Council Vs NSW Government is expected to proceed from Friday 19 July 2024.
Continue readingDespair – Low- & Mid-rise Housing & Dual Occupancies
Thanks to all who attended Ku-ring-gai Council’s community forums on the NSW Government’s Low and Mid-Rise Housing plans.
Continue readingVolunteers needed Sun 14 July
Help FOKE save our trees and wildlife. Volunteers needed on Sunday 14 July
Continue readingSave Greater Sydney Coalition Forum on 7 August
Please join FOKE on this important forum in the NSW Parliament Theatrette on Wednesday 7 August 2024 at 6,30pm. Booking details to follow soon.
Continue readingUnaffordable Auckland
Read Cameron Murray’s study that dismantles the Auckland myth. Density did NOT create affordable housing.
Continue readingWhy isn’t Minns worried about NSW’s housing debt?
Why isn’t Premier Chris Minns telling the public about the financial costs that the Transport Oriented Development and Low and Mid-Rise Housing will bring to NSW? Some say it will cost NSW $410 billion?
Continue readingYES it IS BAD for the whole of NSW
Read why FOKE agrees that the NSW’s Government’s housing policy is “bad for the whole of NSW”.
Continue readingLow & Mid-Rise Threats
Watch Ku-ring-gai Council explain the planning disaster that is coming to every street that is 800 metres from a train station or large supermarket
Continue readingTrees – a timely reminder
If you missed Ku-ring-gai Councils Tree Forum on 26 March, 2024 it is worthy watching again – especially in light of the NSW Governments ‘deforestation designed’ planning SEPPs
Continue readingDisallow and STOP the TODs
says Scott Farlow, MLC & Shadow Minister for Planning
Continue readingFOKE’s evidence against TOD
Read FOKE’s evidence against the TOD
Continue readingMinns forgets his “avalanche of many ugly, poorly built developments” speech
FOKE wishes to remind Premier Chris Minns what he said on the floor of the Legislative Assembly on 8 August 2018 about planning for Greater Sydney.
Read the full speech on Hansard
Read Premier Minns and his TOD SEPP by:
Paul Scully, MP, Minister for Planning & Public Spaces State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) Amendment (Transport Oriented Development) 2024 under the Environmental and Planning Act 1979 HERE
18 June, 2024
TOD Disallowance Bill
Read more about the TOD Disallowance Bill HERE
Scott Farlow, MLC & Shadow Minister for Planning, has introduced a Private members Bill into the Legislative Council. This Bill is the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 to enable State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) Amendment (Transport Oriented Development) 2024. The aim is to disallow the Transport Oriented Development (TOD) program that is a blunt and one-size-fits all instruments that will have catastrophic impacts on Ku-ring-gai s tree canopy, environment, heritage and amenity.
On 5th June 2024, Scott Farlow said:
“The Coalition supports measures, including increasing density along transport corridors, to meet ambitious housing targets, but they must be done right and in consultation with local communities. This has not been the case with the Transport Oriented Development State Environmental Planning Policy, which provided no opportunity for community consultation despite increased community participation being an object of the Act”.
Read FULL STATEMENT HERE
The Bill will be introduced into the Legislative Council.
Please urge MLCs to vote for the TOD Disallowance Bill.
Please ADAPT and EDIT in your own words the letter below:
Then send the email to each member of the crossbench asking them to support the Disallowance Bill.
Their contact emails are HERE
Read TOD SEPP by:
Paul Scully, MP, Minister for Planning & Public Spaces State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) Amendment (Transport Oriented Development) 2024 under the Environmental and Planning Act 1979 HERE
18 June, 2024
Ku-ring-gai remains steadfast on TOD legal action
FOKE thanks Ku-ring-gai Councillors who voted to continue the legal action against the NSW Governments undemocratic and environmentally and heritage destructive Transport Oriented Development (TOD) program.
A majority of nine councillors stood steadfast in their support to continue the legal action against the TOD.
Watch Ku-ring-gai Council meeting HERE.
Since coming into effect on 13 May, 2024, the TOD continues to cause anguish, distress and despair for residents and particularly to those living within 400 metres of Gordon, Killara, Lindfield and Roseville Stations.
The TOD will allow 6 to 7 storey apartment buildings on most sites within 400 metres of Gordon, Killara, Lindfield and Roseville railway stations.
Residents remain in shock to think that a NSW Government would allow Ku-ring-gai’s unique and irreplaceable heritage and environment to be so willfully destroyed by developers.
Many residents are now being threatened with financial and housing insecurity. Those living within the TOD are being pressured to sell their properties with threats that if they don’t their properties will be devalued.
Ku-ring-gai Councillors know they have no choice but to take legal action. The NSW Government has shown no indication that they will negotiate with Council. Instead, Minns appears determined to push through this undemocratic TOD hyper-overdevelopment SEPP that will be catastrophic for not only Ku-ring-gais heritage and environment but NSWs.
It is pleasing to hear that the NSW Liberals are prepared to overturn the TOD program.
We now have hope that Councils legal challenge and the Coalitions Disallowance Bill will stop the disastrous TOD.
Postscript
Read TOD SEPP by:
Paul Scully, MP, Minister for Planning & Public Spaces State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) Amendment (Transport Oriented Development) 2024 under the Environmental and Planning Act 1979 HERE
11 June, 2024
FOKE’s evidence to TOD Inquiry
FOKE was invited to give evidence to the NSW Parliament’s Upper House Inquiry into the development of the Transport Oriented Development Program (TOD) on Monday 20 May 2024 in the Macquarie Room, Parliament House, Sydney.
FOKE concluded its evidence calling on the NSW Government to immediately withdraw the TOD program because of the devastation it will cause not only to the natural, built and cultural heritage of Ku-ring-gai but for Greater Sydney.
During FOKEs session from 12.15 pm, Mr Frank Howarth AM (Chair, Heritage Council of NSW); Mr David Burden (Conservation Director, National Trust of Australia (NSW) and Ms Jozefa Sobski AM (Vice President, Haberfield Association Inc) presented evidence as well.
Following FOKE’s presentation the Save Greater Sydney Coalition (SGSC) which FOKE is a member of, presented their evidence. It was a powerful presentation!
Read list of speakers at Upper House TOD Inquiry 20.5.24 HERE
Watch video of FOKE’s evidence to the Upper House TOD Inquiry Hearing 20.5.24 HERE
Read transcript of FOKE’s evidence to the Upper House TOD Inquiry Hearing 20.5.24 HERE
Read FOKEs Submission to the TOD Inquiry 27.3.24 HERE
Read further information about the Upper House Inquiry HERE
Postscript
Read TOD SEPP by:
Paul Scully, MP, Minister for Planning & Public Spaces State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) Amendment (Transport Oriented Development) 2024 under the Environmental and Planning Act 1979 HERE
FOKE’s evidence to Planning & Climate Change Inquiry 10 May, 2024
FOKE presented evidence to the NSW Parliament Upper House Portfolio Committee No. 7 regarding its inquiry into the planning system and the impact of climate change on the environment and communities on Friday 10 May 2024 at the aks Room, Dee Why RSL, Dee Why from 12.00 pm to 12.45 pm. Appearing alongside FOKE was Friends of Lane Cove National Park Inc.
The Upper House Portfolio 7 Committee consist of:
Chair: Higginson, Sue (GRNS, LC Member); Deputy Chair: Ruddick, John (LP, LC Member); Members: Buttigieg, Mark (ALP, LC Member); D’Adam, Anthony (ALP, LC Member); Farlow, Scott (LIB, LC Member); Munro, Jacqui (LIB, LC Member); Primrose, Peter (ALP, LC Member)
FOKE Introductory Statement
Thank you for the opportunity for Friends of Ku-ring-gai Environment, or ‘FOKE’ as we are known, to comment on Portfolio Committee No. 7’s Inquiry into the NSW planning system and the impact of climate change on the environment and communities.
In speaking about Ku-ring-gai, FOKE wishes to acknowledge the traditional owners of Ku-ring-gai, and that it is on the land of Gammeragal (Roseville) Darramurragal (Turramurra) and Guringai (West Head) Country.
FOKE is a community group, run by volunteers. It celebrates its 30th Anniversary this year. During these three decades FOKE has advocated for the protection of Ku-ring-gai’s natural, built and cultural heritage.
FOKE is deeply alarmed at the state of the current planning system and takes the view that it endangers the lives of residents from the accelerating impacts of climate change. Ku-ring-gai, being surrounded by three national parks, is in a high bushfire prone area and with properties exposed to flood hazard. With escalating climate change Ku-ring-gai will face more frequent, intense and life-threatening bushfires and flooding.
FOKE unreservedly opposes a NSW planning system that weakens environmental protections. Stronger environmental protections at the state and federal level are urgently needed to stem the crisis of biodiversity extinction and the climate emergency.
The increasingly “one-size fits all” NSW planning system needs to be overhauled to ensure planning decisions prioritizes resilience, climate safety and biodiversity conservation. In its current form it offers little protection.
Central to FOKE’s submission is the view that there has, and continues to be, a public policy failure with successive governments’ urban consolidation policies that drive dangerous climate by escalating the environmental crisis through land clearing, deforestation, habitat destruction, loss of canopy and seedbank.
FOKE is deeply concerned that the current NSW planning system and poor controls exerted by planning instruments, continues to profoundly change the landscape of Ku-ring-gai and its critically endangered ecological communities, particularly its remnant Blue Gum High Forest and Sydney Turpentine Ironbark Forest; as well as their capacity to regenerate into the future. It will also destroy Ku-ring-gai’s natural beauty and its urban villages, many of which are located within or adjacent to heritage conservation areas or national parks.
Over 70% of Ku-ring-gai’s Endangered Ecological Communities (EECs) are located on private land.
FOKE takes the view that the survival of these Endangered Ecological Communities are key to the survival of Ku-ring-gai’s tree canopy. Yet these Endangered Ecological Communities are under threat due to the decades of local government powers being weakened.
Since the introduction of external planning panels and the deregulation and privatisation of compliance and enforcement regulators, local governments no longer have the regulatory and enforcement powers to refuse most development applications and ensure the ongoing conservation of its natural environment.
Complying development, SEPPs and substantially weakened legislation have fueled tree removals on private land replacing small houses with oversized ‘McMansion’ type houses and apartment buildings, replacing trees and gardens with hard surfaces and reducing the property’s capacity for deep soil landscaping. Without adequate deep soil landscaping provisions on private property Ku-ring-gai’s Endangered Ecological Communities and canopy cannot survive into the future. Deeply alarming is that there is less than 1% left of Blue Gum High Forest in the world.
FOKE is concerned that current development proposals are assessed in isolation without consideration of the cumulative impacts of previous planning and development decisions and their impacts on the environment.
FOKE calls on the NSW Government to implement a new fit for purpose climate planning system, based on ecologically sustainable development and which uphold the highest standards of biodiversity conservation and climate resilience.
Find list of speakers at Inquiry Hearing on 10 May 2024 HERE
Watch video of FOKE’s evidence at Inquiry on 10 May 2024 HERE or BELOW:
Read full transcript HERE
Read FOKE’s Submission HERE
Watch the Public hearing – PC7 – Planning and the impacts of climate change, 17 June, 2024 HERE
Ku-ring-gai’s WAKE UP letter to NSW residents
READ Ku-ring-gai’s open letter to NSW residents, published in early May 2024:
An open letter to NSW residents – WAKE UP
We’ve all heard about the NSW Government’s plans for increased housing. But no-one has heard anything about how our schools, hospitals, roads and parks are meant to support this population growth.
Read full letter HERE
Save Sydney Rally
ON Tuesday 12 March 2024 1pm
AT Tree of Knowledge behind Parliament House, Hospital Road, Domain. Map here.
PROTEST against the new planning laws proposed by the NSW Government.
THREATENS every suburb across Greater Sydney, Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Lower Hunter, Greater Newcastle and Illawarra-Shoalhaven.
BRIING banners identifying your suburb or council area.
SPEAKERS will include MPs, Mayors & Community representatives.
SHARE with your networks, community groups, neighbours, friends and family.
VISIT SAVE GREATER SYDNEY COALITION Website & Facebook
CONTACT KATHY COWLEY, President, FOKE, info@foke.org.au for more information
TOD Inquiry Announced
The NSW Parliament has announced an Upper House Inquiry into the Development of the Transport Orientated Development Program (TOD).
Submissions are due on 28 March 2924.
The TOD Program will devastate Ku-ring-gais heritage conservation areas and environmentally sensitive lands particularly the 400 metres surrounding Roseville, Lindfield, Killara and Gordon Stations.
Both the TOD Program and the Low and Mid-rise Housing State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) will include a “non-refusal” standard which will disallow Ku-ring-gai Council heritage and environmental controls.
The TODs 3:1 FSR and 6-7 + storey heights (with no minimum lot size or lot width) will effectively wipe out Heritage Conservation Areas and remove critically endangered Blue Gum High Forest (BGHF) and Sydney Turpentine Ironbark Forest (STIF) in Roseville, Lindfield, Killara and Gordon.
The Upper House Committee consist of:
Chair: Sue Higginson MLC (GREENS)
Deputy Chair: John Ruddick MLC (LDP)
Members:
Mark Buttigieg MLC (ALP)
Anthony D’Adam MLC (ALP)
Scott Farlow MLC (LIBERAL)
Jacqui Munro MLC (LIBERAL)
Peter Primrose MLC (ALP)
The Terms of Reference can be found here.
It is critical that as many submissions be sent in by members of the community.
Say NO to NSW Government
Send your submission HERE by deadline Friday 23 February, 2024
Ideas to help you send your submission:
The NSW Minns Government planning ‘reforms’:
- are grossly UNDEMOCRATIC.
- are flawed. They undermine the integrity of the entire NSW PLANNING system and will lead to planning chaos.
- will destroy the character, heritage and environment of Sydney’s diverse suburbs with a “one size fits all policy”.
- fails to consider local amenity impacts, including overshadowing, loss of privacy, loss of scenic views, loss of streetscape.
- fail to ensure good quality and good designed apartment buildings.
- put the interests of property developers before the COMMUNITY.
- will allow super windfall rezoning profits to be ‘gifted’ to property developers.
- will not address the housing affordability crisis.
- will open the NSW planning system to “corruption risk” with the introduction of the ‘non-refusal standards’ (including money-laundering).
- deny natural justice for those residents living within a Transport Oriented Development (TOD) with no opportunity to object.
- deny natural justice for those residents living across Sydney with the introduction of the Changes to create low and mid-rise housing occurring just before the Christmas, New Year and school holidays.
- lack transparency and accountability. The Minns Government refuses to release the “Cabinet in confidence“ evidence justifying why Roseville, Lindfield, Killara and Gordon had the necessary infrastructure to take further density. the TOD to be introduced 400 metres surrounding Roseville, Lindfield, Killara, Gordon Railway Stations can take the increase in density.
- are environmentally irresponsible when Sydney’s natural ENVIRONMENT is under severe with the escalating threats of climate and biodiversity extinction.
- fail to acknowledge Sydney’s environment interconnections. Ku-ring-gai is the lungs of Sydney. What happens to Ku-ring-gai’s trees will impact on Western Sydney’s, Northern Beaches, Sydney Harbour’s and the Hawkesbury River’s environmental health.
- will devastate Ku-ring-gai’s natural environment with the overriding of existing Council protections including Tree & Vegetation Development Control Plan (DCP), Urban Forest Policy, Threatened Species Community.
- Fail to acknowledge Ku-ring-gai as an environmentally sensitive area.
- Fail to acknowledge Ku-ring-gai’s Aboriginal heritage that is a local government area that has one of the most significant Aboriginal sites in Sydney.
- will push Ku-ring-gai’s Critically Endangered Ecological Communities (Blue Gum High Forest, Sydney Turpentine Ironbark and Duffys Forest) and its wildlife and birdlife to extinction (Federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act).
- will destroy Ku-ring-gai’s tree canopy. Already Ku-ring-gai’s tree canopy is under serious threat with an 8-9% slash in tree canopy cover. The NSW Housing Strategy will accelerate this destruction. It will destroy the vital wildlife corridor/national park railway line ridge.
- will have an adverse impact on Lane Cove National Park, Garigal National Park, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. As well the integrity of the remaining pockets of intact Blue Gum High Forest at the Dalrymple-Hay Nature Reserve (St Ives), Sheldon Forest (Turramurra) will be placed under pressure. Other bushland reserves include Ku-ring-gai Flying-Fox Reserve (within 400 metres of Gordon Railway Station), Granny Springs Reserve (Turramurra), Swain Garden, Seven Little Australians Park.
- ignores Ku-ring-gai’s geography. geology and climate. Ku-ring-gai suburbs are located on a thin ‘railway line’ ridge that climbs to about 200 metres and has the highest rainfall in Sydney. There are many creeks running from this ridge east and west, flowing down into either the Lane Cove, Garigal or Ku-ring-gai National Parks. The canopy trees, bushland reserves, gardens are environmentally critical to the survival of these national parks. The NSW housing policies will lead to more intensive hard surfaces. During high rainfall events this will lead to flash flooding, with pollutants, rubbish and weeds being flushed into the National Parks.
- will result in wildlife extinction. Ku-ring-gai has more native species than the entire United Kingdom. Ku-ring-gai is a hot bed of biological diversity that supports over 800 native plants, 170 fungi and 690 fauna species (including the threatened species – Grey-Headed Flying Fox and Powerful Owl.
- ignores the evidence that Ku-ring-gai is one of Sydney’s most ecologically sensitive places.
- Fail to provide an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regarding the multiple rezonings since 2004 when the last major rezonings occurred as LEP 194.
- will demolish Ku-ring-gai’s hard won HERITAGE Conservation Areas that includes the nation’s best 20th Century domestic architecture.
- fail to acknowledge and respect the character, heritage and environment of a local area. They are blunt, one-size-fits all changes that will irreversibly destroy a community’s liveability, character, heritage and the environment.
- abrogate NSW’s obligations to protect individual heritage items (eg Eryldene) and Heritage Conservation Areas . If allowed it means that heritage protection will be extinguished across NSW.
- will destroy Ku-ring-gai’s heritage where the ‘natural dominates the built form’. Ku-ring-gai’s garden and bushland suburbs will be demolished and replaced with hard surface concrete.
- fails to recognise Ku-ring-gai’s significance to the Australia’s cultural, natural and environmental pioneer history. Ku-ring-gai is the birthplace of the modern Australian environment movement with environmental pioneers such as Annie Wyatt (founder of the National Trust of Australia), Charles Bean, Eccleston du Faur, Alex Colley, Paddy Pallin.
- will overwhelm existing ageing INFRASTRUCTRE for stormwater, sewerage and drinking water, train carrying capacity.
- fails to address the risks that Ku-ring-gai faces from climate fueled bushfires, wild storms and flash flooding.
- will cause continual traffic congestion chaos. Ku-ring-gai has limited access roads to the Pacific Highway. In an emergency how will the ambulance get to the hospital? Streets will be impassible with additional carparking.
- are silent on controls to ensure new multistorey developments have net zero emissions with roof top solar and community batteries for the high energy required for lifts and air conditioning.
- fail to provide the funds to purchase additional land for more parks, playgrounds, green spaces, sporting fields, swimming pools as well as services such as schools, hospitals, libraries and community and recreational facilities.
- fail to acknowledge that over the past 20+ years, Ku-ring-gai Council’s attempts to strengthen the protection of Ku-ring-gai’s heritage and the environment have been ignored, denied or delayed by the NSW Planning Department (eg 10/50 vegetation clearing rule). Concurrently environment, heritage and local government powers have been significantly weakened. It is time to strengthen urban environmental protections – not extinguish them.
What will the development being proposed within 400 metres of the stations look like? No setbacks. No trees. No conservation areas.
NSW Labor DETERMINED TO DESTROY KU-RING-GAI
“You have something special here in Ku-ring-gai. Fight for it.” – Tom Uren
Ku-ring-gai is about to be destroyed.
It is now time for residents to fight for Ku-ring-gai.
The NSW Government is planning to destroy Ku-ring-gai – its tree canopy, its heritage homes and its character.
IT IS IMPORTANT for residents to:
a) complete a Ku-ring-gai Council online survey about their say on the planning changes
b) send feedback to the State Government’s planning department here.
THE DEADLINE IS FRIDAY 23 FEBRUARY, 2024.
The NSW Government proposes dual occupancies in low density residential zones on block sizes of 450sqm. A block of 900 sqm will allow four homes to be built on it.
The NSW Government’s blanket zonings will allow terraces, townhouses, manor houses (two storey apartment blocks) and 6 to 7 storey mid-rise apartment blocks to be built within walking distance of railway stations. Possibly too for Ku-ring-gai’s local centres – East Killara, East Lindfield, West Gordon, West Pymble, West Lindfield, South Turramurra, North Turramurra?
Ku-ring-gai’s future will be dramatically different – traffic congestion, high rise with the removal of thousands of trees. Heat stress turbocharged. Wildlife extinguished. Heritage erased.
In April 2024 the NSW Government plans to implement ‘Transport Oriented Development’ (TOD).
TOD allows blanket 6 to 7 storey unit developments within 400m of the Roseville, Lindfield, Killara and Gordon railway stations. Eight to nine storeys will be allowed if developers provide “affordable housing”.
Heritage Conservation Areas WILL NOT BE PROTECTED.
The NSW Government has indicated it will NOT CONSULT Ku-ring-gai residents over its TOD high rise rezoning changes.
For more information see Ku-ring-gai Council: ‘Proposed changes to NSW housing policy and its impacts on Ku-ring-gai’.
NSW Government announces intentions for MORE HOUSING DENSITY
At the last Ku-ring-gai Council meeting, less than two weeks before Christmas 2023, Mayor Ngai tabled a Mayoral Minute : “The Trickle of Information Regarding Housing Density Changes – Tuesday 12 December 2023”about the State Government’s intentions for more housing density for Ku-ring-gai.
Below is FOKE’s summary of the Mayoral Minute. The full Mayoral Minute can be read here.
The State Government intends to legislate two State Environmental Planning Policies (SEPPs) to override Ku-ring-gai Council planning controls.
1. SEPP relating to “diverse and well-located homes”
The NSW Government has announced it intends to legislate new planning controls to allow terraces and townhouses from being built in R2 Low Density Residential zones and residential flat buildings (apartments) to being built in R3 Medium Density Residential zones.
This would shift the goalposts with unintended consequences on infrastructure, planning, and biodiversity.
It is understood that if this “diverse and well-located homes” SEPP is legislated by the NSW Government it will:
• increase housing density within 800m walking distance to a well-located area’, ie close to existing train stations and town centre precincts (it remains unclear as to whether local neighbourhood centres will be includes)
• Multi-dwelling houses to be allowed in R2 zones within 800m walking distance of well located areas
• 6 storey apartments to be allowed in R3 zones within 400m walking distance of well located areas
• 3 storey apartments to be allowed in R3 zones within 800m walking distance of well located areas and
• Dual occupancies to be allowed anywhere else in NSW zoned R2.
A letter sent to Ku-ring-gai Council from the Department of Planning on 16th July 2021, indicates it wants Council to implement ‘medium density’ (then townhouses) in Roseville, Roseville Chase, Killara, Pymble, Wahroonga, West Gordon and North St Ives.
2. SEPP relating to “transport oriented development”
• The SEPP intends to allow 6 storey apartments on any zoned land within 400m of each train station, although it has not been confirmed whether this is 400m walking distance or 400m radius
• The planning controls will allow building heights of 6 storeys (21m) with a floor space ratio of 3:1
• New parking rates will apply
• No minimum lot size or lot width rules will apply and developments in commercial areas must make sure street frontages are activated
• The State Government does not believe further support for infrastructure is necessary
• The SEPP will apply to Heritage Conservation Areas, although details on this remains unknown
• The SEPP will designate each area as “special entertainment precincts” with venues trading later and exempt from normal rules about amplified music.
Ku-ring-gai Council has responded with concerns about:
• The lack of consideration for infrastructure (transport, stormwater, education and recreation)
• The significant loss of tree-canopy, which is vital to protecting biodiversity as well as to support climate-change resilience
• The potential impacts to the character of Sydney, including impacts to our Heritage Conservation Areas
• The lack of detail publicly available on either SEPP
• The perceived rush to implement each SEPP
• The perceived lack of public consultation regarding the above.
The situation is compounded by the State Government’s withdrawal of $9.8m funding for the Lindfield Village Hub commuter carpark, which has put the project in jeopardy, delayed the delivery of housing, and sabotaged the good faith efforts of both Council and the potential developer.
Recommendation:
A. That Council notes this Mayoral Minute, awaits the release of detail on each SEPP, and continues to voice its concerns both individually and in co-operation with other local councils and industry bodies such as LGNSW and NSROC.
B. That as soon as practicable after the public release of detailed information on each SEPP, Council will inform the residents of the impacts of proposed changes as well as any public feedback or consultation mechanisms available to them. Council will also respond as necessary to protect the interests of current and future residents of Sydney.
FOKE supports Mayoral Minute 21 November, 2023
14 November 2023
Dear Mayor and Councillors
FOKE wishes to express its support for the Mayoral Minute of 21 November, 2023 that outlines his initial response to The Hon Paul Scully MP, NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces letter (dated 30/10/2023 and received on 9 November, 2023).
It is important that the integrity of Ku-ring-gai zoning controls or Local Environment Plans (LEPs) be upheld to ensure Ku-ring-gai’s environment, heritage, character and amenity, especially in its R2 Low Density Residential Zones, be protected for future generations to enjoy.
FOKE commends the Mayoral minute for its clarity and careful consideration on the challenges ahead for Ku-ring-gai.
FOKE strongly supports a rigorous and transparent public consultation process to allow residents to have a say. We recommend that Council refer to the 2002 questionnaire sent to all residents that was used as part of the consultation process for the then Ku-ring-gai Residential Strategy.
FOKE shares the Mayor’s concern about the unacceptable loss of tree-canopy and asks that an audit be done on the cumulative loss of trees since 2004 as well as what planning controls are needed for climate-change resilience as we face increasingly dangerous bushfires, wild storms, flooding and extreme heat stress that will endangers the lives of residents and threaten the natural environment.
FOKE shares concerns townhouses in low residential areas in R2 zones would considerably alter the heritage character and environment of Ku-ring-gai.
FOKE shares the Mayor’s concern about significantly increasing Ku-ring-gai’s population without necessarily the funding for or provision of adequate infrastructure (transport, stormwater, education and recreation and environmental restoration projects) to support the increase.
FOKE requests that the four baseline studies (Heritage and Neighbourhood Character, Infrastructure, Environment and Traffic and Parking Studies) carried out for the preparation for the Ku-ring-gai Residential Strategy in 2002 be assessed in light of the development that has occurred since 2004.
For over twenty five years FOKE has argued that Ku-ring-gai requires planning controls that protect, threatened and endangered ecological communities, national parks and environmentally sensitive areas.
We thank and commend this Mayoral Minute.
Yours sincerely
Kathy Cowley
President
PRESIDENT
cc Matt Cross MP Member for Davidson
cc The Hon Alister Henskens SC MP Member for Wahroonga
cc The Hon Paul Fletcher MP Member for Bradfield
North Turramurra Residents disillusioned
When council, in 2010, proposed redesigning the North Turramurra Golf Course to include soccer fields and changeroom facilities, council promised to incorporate a park with children’s playground and BBQ facilities in addition to walking tracks to adjacent bushland for the enjoyment of the wider community. The North Turramurra Recreation Area (NTRA) project was partly funded with a 3.15% surcharge on ratepayers for 6 years to deliver a multi-use facility. Although the site is the only open green space (other than a designated dog park) for the northern extremity of the peninsular, the non-sporting recreational uses have never been delivered.
In 2021, the Northern Suburbs Football Association (NSFA) lodged a Development Application to build themselves a Home of Football based at NTRA on Bobbin Head Road. The proposal consists of a 300-seat undercover grandstand, and includes an exclusive gym, physio room, player and referee change rooms, meeting room, corporate box, closed media box, café with office space and boardroom.
North Turramurra residents overwhelmingly objected to the proposal presenting written objections and petitions with over one thousand signatures. The main objections relate to the scale of the facility, intensification of use in numbers and time, its impacts on evacuation in an area designated High Bushfire Prone and the long-term occupation of a large part of the NTRA site by a single user. Residents also raised existing issues with parking across driveways, noise and lights.
The NSFA acoustic, parking and traffic studies that concluded the new grandstand development would have no impact locally, were all based on the assumption of no change to existing player and spectator numbers. The NSFA denied intensification of use despite residents pointing out the inconsistency with a NSFA 2021-2022 application for a NSW Greater Cities & Regional Sport Facility Grant in which the NSFA stated, “proposed total visits with a grandstand and facilities would increase by 36,489 individuals to the site annually”.
Residents were ignored and the DA was approved by the Ku-ring-gai Planning Panel on recommendation of staff. The NSFA propose to fund the construction of the building, but it is unclear as to who will be responsible for its maintenance. The approval of the DA means the NSFA can now apply for a Sports Grant. Any Memorandum of Understanding between council and NSFA will be critical to financial implications on rate payers and use of the facility.
This process has broken the trust of North Turramurra Residents with council. The peninsula remains without a passive recreation area despite having contributed to its funding for years.
Assault on our Suburbs – Draft Design & Place SEPP
Though at first glance the Draft Design & Place State Environment Planning Policy incorporates all the ‘well meaning’ principles of good planning in its introduction, the detail in the objectives will lead to the destruction of the integrity of many suburbs, including Ku-ring-gai.
The principles espoused in this Draft Policy include delivering beauty and amenity through improved overall design, delivering inviting public spaces, improved sustainability and greener spaces for well-being and improved resilience to climate change.
However, the objectives in the Urban Design Guide highlight that the true purpose of this Policy is increased density across NSW, especially targeting current R2 low density residential areas.
Objective 3 aims to build ‘Compact and diverse neighbourhoods’. Critically this is to be met by targeting density levels of 30 dwellings per hectare within a 5 minute walk to neighbourhood shops and centres. The minimum density of 15 dwellings per hectare is targeted everywhere else. In areas of greater intensity or where there are excellent active and public transport networks, development should aim for a minimum density of 30 dwellings per hectare across the entire walkable neighbourhood.
The reasoning that these minimum residential targets will guarantee a more vibrant urban area has absolutely no foundation.
Objective 3 effectively ignores current LEP’s, environmental and heritage considerations and will impose a blanket density over the entire municipality that will extinguish any individual characteristics.
This objective overrides the local Council zoning plans and will destroy the character of established suburbs and LGAs, such as Ku-ring-gai. High and medium density should not be allowed within R2 Low Density Residential areas. This is completely contradictory to Objective 16 which calls for the retention of existing built heritage, landscape and other unique features, including reinstatement of historical street patterns where possible.
Within Objective 15 is the damaging recommendation to override any current zoning and reduce detached dwellings to only 30% in areas where the number of dwellings per hectare is currently 15 dwellings or greater!
The use of the term ‘compact neighbourhoods’ as a preferred outcome litters the document as the preferred planning outcome.
We believe this is another assault by the current State Government on the current character of existing suburbs and puts increased density as the key aim of this Policy. It is apparent that this policy is not about better design and quality sense of place, it is about providing developers and the property industry with greater options for increasing density in our suburbs.
In terms of the Apartment Design Guide, there appear to be few mandated minimum standards, with developers able to freely depart from the recommended provisions with the use of offsets and alternative designs.
Another area lagging behind the rhetoric is the engagement with the community as a key stakeholder in any design plans during the full process, not just in the initial information gathering phase.
FOKE does not believe that this Policy will assist in building community trust in an already flawed planning system and has made a submission to this effect.
The submission period closed on 28th February. However, it would be worthwhile to contact or email your local MP to let them know you are concerned about the impact of this Policy unless significantly altered to address these concerns. You can find the documents at Design and Place SEPP.
“A sting” in Planning Department’s Approval of Ku-ring-gai Housing Strategy
Council submitted Ku-ring-gai’s Local Housing Strategy to the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) in December 2020 with the core objective of meeting Ku-ring-gai’s housing targets to 2036, through existing capacity and existing planning controls.
On 16th July 2021, Council received confirmation from the DPIE of the approval of the Local Housing Strategy (LHS). However, the Department’s confirmation letter included 12 additional immediate further planning impositions. The full letter is available here.
The following pro-development requirements are completely inconsistent with the Housing Strategy submitted and approved which relies on utilising available capacities. These requirements are:
- To submit planning proposals for new dwellings in Gordon, Lindfield and/or Turramurra local centres by December 2022.
- To submit planning proposals for new dwellings within St Ives local centre by December 2022. In the LHS this was to be part of the longer-term plan from 2031 and dependent on improved transport links.
- To identify neighbourhood centres such as Roseville, Roseville Chase, Killara, Pymble, Wahroonga, West Gordon and North St Ives for additional medium density housing for the period 2031 to 2036, with plans delivered by December 2023.
- Setting senior housing and medium density targets which were not previously required.
Additionally, this letter states that a specific medium density complying development model for Ku-ring-gai that had been previously agreed by the Greater Sydney Commission (GSC) in the Ku-ring-gai Local Strategic Planning Statement is now refused. This is an extremely important element and an essential part of planning for Ku-ring-gai. With our built and cultural heritage elements, riparian lands, surrounding bushland, vulnerable fauna and flora and undulating typography any development must be tailored to its specific location.
Importantly, requirement number 9 is an updated implementation plan of these requirements by January 2022 This would be the first meeting of a new council, due to the postponed elections. This unnecessarily tight timing limits the ability to discuss with the DPIE the suitability of the requirements presented in this letter.
The threat from the Department is that they will accommodate developers and landowners in proponent-led proposals if council does not meet the requirements in its letter. It is both dangerous and disappointing when developers already have too much sway in local planning outcomes!
Critically, the proposed housing targets have not been updated and are based on Pre-Covid population projections from 3 years ago. It is essential that the GSC issue updated population targets before foisting unnecessary increases in dwellings on existing infrastructure and communities.
The Government’s Centre for Population had updated its projections in December 2020. See the Population statement 2021.
These projections show a 5% reduction in forecast population for Sydney vs pre-covid projected levels to 2026, and a 5.4% decline to 2031. This amounts to over 300,000 fewer people expected to reside in Sydney than projected in 2026 and 340,000 less by 2031.
Post Covid, Sydney population targets will be less than half the previous increases which will have a major impact on the housing requirements in our area.
The requirements in the DPIE letter of approval are inconsistent with the adopted and approved Ku-ring-gai Local Housing Strategy that provides new housing from existing capacity within Ku-ring-gai’s current planning controls until 2036. With a 5% reduction in Sydney’s projected population by 2036, all housing targets will be essentially halved.
At the 16th November Council meeting this issue was debated with the resolution to reject the DPIE conditions. Unfortunately Mayor Spencer and Councillors Ngai, Kelly and Kay agreed with the pro-development conditions of the letter.
As we embark with a new council, please contact your councillors and local Ministers, Alister Henskens and Jonathan O’Dea, to ensure that an outcome that better reflects the aim of the approved Housing Strategy is agreed with the DPIE.