ApartmentsClare BurnettFri 12 Jun 26
NSW Court Knocks Back 17-Storey Parramatta Infill Tower Proposal
A 17-storey apartment proposal for a Parramatta suburb has been refused by the NSW Land and Environment Court.
The developer, Captag James Project, wanted to build a part-16, part-17-storey residential development at 10 James Street, Carlingford, 28km north-west of Sydney CBD.
It filed an application with the City of Parramatta for the $31-million project on a 916sq m infill site in mid-2025.
The development vehicle, associated with Capio Property Group, wanted to build 45 apartments with two basement levels for 64 car parking spaces.
The proposal replaced a previous approval for a 14-storey mixed-use development of 38 units. Work on that scheme had begun with the excavation of two basement levels.
The development proposed by Capio, close to Carlingford Light Rail station, did not comply with floor space ratio standards, and the developer sought to deviate from them.
But a Sydney Central City Planning Panel said the proposed concept was not an improvement on the previously approved development, and there was not sufficient environmental planning grounds to support variation of the standard.
A design panel also raised concerns that the concept did not represent an improvement or exhibit design excellence in how it related to adjoining approved developments or the streetscape.
The Planning Panel said the developer had not addressed concerns raised by the panel, as they did not attend the panel meeting, and instead lodged a deemed refusal with the Land and Environment Court.
At a three-day hearing during March and May of this year, the court recognised that the area of Carlingford was in a “quite advanced stage of transition to high-density development”.
Despite amendments to the development application in the intervening period, the building design was also raised by the court.
It said that the proposed podium-tower configuration would be “overbearing” given its proximity to a proposed civic plaza, described as a “key hub for the entire precinct”.
Presiding LEC Commissioner Peter Walsh said that while it constituted an infill development, to which concessions could sometimes be reasonably granted, they were “not convinced” in this case, particularly with the presentation of the development to James Street, which is poised to be an important public area.
Walsh dismissed Capio’s appeal and refused the development application.
Capio was approved earlier this year for a nine and seven-storey development in the same suburb, 750m from the James Street project.
