16 December 2010
The NSW Government has revoked the City of Sydney’s development control plan for late-night trading premises. This is a rare use of the state government’s power to overturn development control plans. The NSW Government says that it was inappropriate for the council to have the ability to continually review the operating hours and patron capacity of premises. The government’s media release is here.
Earlier this year, Ku-ring-gai Council exhibited a draft section 94 contributions plan that would have result in maximum contribution in the order of $53,000. We were very critical of this plan and argued that the local works program was excessive. Council has now significantly amended its works program to achieve contribution rates for all new units below $30,000 and for more affordable units such as one bedroom units and seniors living units, contribution rates below $20,000. Our original submission is here and Council’s report discussing the reduced contribution rate is here.
The planning assessment process is underway for a major redevelopment of the Channel 9 site at Willoughby. Apparently PBL Media Pty Ltd wants to redevelop the site for mixed-use residential and retail. The project has a gross floor area of 66,600 square metres (66,000 for residential and 600 for retail) with building heights ranging from two to five storeys along Richmond Avenue and Artarmon Road and 16-20 storeys in the central part of the site, accommodating approximately 663 dwellings in total. The government media release is here.