21 August 2025
North Sydney Council has rejected a proposal to replace an existing 12-unit building with a 25-unit apartment block and three-storey car park at 17 Bridge End, Wollstonecraft.
The development application, lodged by Lindfield Developments on 4 December 2024, was refused by the North Sydney Local Planning Panel on 6 August 2025. The panel found the project constituted overdevelopment, failed to promote neighbourhood character, and raised issues including view sharing, solar access and intrusion into the bushland buffer zone.
Objectors said the plan would involve the removal of 26 mature trees—some more than 40 years old and 20 metres high—affecting the ecological values of nearby Badangi Reserve.
Community member Chloe Chen organised submissions opposing the project through local online forums. “While I support increased housing, it shouldn’t come at the cost of our environment,” she wrote. “A smaller-scale development (as outlined in the developer’s preliminary report) would preserve most of these valuable trees and the wildlife they support.”
The Owners Corporation of neighbouring 15A Bridge End also opposed the proposal, citing solar access, privacy, tree destruction, wildlife impacts, fence damage and noise from the planned car lift. Local resident Shelley added concerns about the height and bulk of the building and the effect on Badangi Reserve vegetation and wildlife.