13 June 2024
by Grahame Lynch
North Sydney Council has been accused of erroneously telling NSW planning authorities that Neutral Bay is suitable for dramatically increased development, even though its own elected councillors resolved to oppose this earlier this year. The accusation has come to light via Councillor James Spenceley, who has called an extraordinary general meeting on Monday to clear the air.
Spenceley told the Sun that the NSW government sent a so-called Station and Town Centre Selection inquiry to all councils earlier this year, asking which suburbs and localities should be designated for new, relaxed development rules, which would dramatically lift height restrictions and increase population densities. According to Spenceley, the council responded affirmatively for Neutral Bay, even listing reasons why it should be included. However, this was counter to the will of elected councillors, who had voted on 12 February to oppose the designation of areas such as Neutral Bay as town centre precincts suitable for development.
Spenceley and fellow Councillor William Bourke (pictured) will move the following motion on Monday:
- “That Council notes the invalid response provided by Council staff to the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure on 15 May 2024 in response to the Station and Town Centre Selection Form and the failure to implement a lawful resolution of Council made on 12 February 2024.”
- “That Council notes the response fails to positively implement Council’s resolved position and serves to undermine Council’s resolved position.”
- “That Council writes to the DPHI to formally rescind its earlier response to the Station and Town Centre Selection Form, requesting acknowledgement of the rescission from the DPHI.”
- “That Council resolves to submit a transparent and authorised response to the Station and Town Centre Selection Form that represents the Council resolution dated 12 February 2024, including justifications to demonstrate that Neutral Bay is unsuitable for inclusion, and that address the DPHI criteria, including the following – Essential infrastructure, Road infrastructure, Quality of train service, Quality of bus services in town centres and Level of service of town centres.
- “That an independent and appropriately qualified expert conduct an investigation into why Council officers submitted a response contrary to Council’s resolved position, to include who (internal and external) was aware, who authorised the response and the process followed that resulted in the response being submitted.”
In a letter to Mayor Zoe Baker sent overnight, Spenceley and Bourke wrote: “We are calling this meeting as we have serious concerns around Council’s submission to the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure regarding Neutral Bay’s suitability for inclusion as a town centre precinct and how that relates to the motion passed by Council on the same matter. We also would like to address and consider a formal response from Council outlining, strengthening and justifying the reasons why Neutral Bay should not be considered as part of the state government’s plans.”
The Sun understands that the Council has been in separate communication with the Department, clarifying that councillors did not support the inclusion of Neutral Bay in the list of sites earmarked for relaxed planning rules. But Spenceley said this isn’t good enough. “So, Council has submitted this form back to the Department of Planning circling yes to Neutral Bay, even though there was a no option they could have circled. They have essentially said they agree it should be classified under the new legislation and then gone on to list all of the reasons why Neutral Bay qualifies.”
“It’s not what the community desires. It’s not what the elected members decided. So at no point should the Council have been submitting something against the desires of the community and against the desires or the resolution of the elected body. Now, the fact that they’ve gone and argued for why it should be included, I think even takes it a step further and makes us look like we don’t know what we’re doing. I mean, the councillors have been pretty clear. The community’s been pretty clear, and yet Council staff have gone and done something the exact opposite.”
Spenceley said there was no doubt Neutral Bay did not qualify as a town centre precinct able to handle massively increased residential numbers. It lacked a train station and the B-line bus interchange was already sagging under demand, with queues backing up blocks in peak hours. The suburb lacked a sufficiently diversified retail base and did not have a high school, he said. There was no civic area or community greens, either.