Review Clears 280-Apartment Plans at Dee Why

Nearly 500 apartments were added to Sydney’s residential pipeline by the NSW Independent Planning Commission in the final stages of last year.

The projects were a 22-storey, mixed-use development at North Sydney and a large-lot apartment complex on the Northern Beaches, both greenlit by the commission as its final rulings of 2024 in late December.

For the latter, Landmark’s plans to build 280 apartments at Dee Why was approved subject to conditions by the commission, thanks to the affordable housing height bonus.

Northern Beaches Council had objected to the upsized development that was two storeys higher than the 2023-approved plans.

The apartments will be built across two buildings on a 7790sq m block at 4 Delmar Parade and 812 Pittwater Road. 

The infill affordable housing height bonus of 15 to 30 per cent was introduced by the NSW Government in December of 2023, giving developers the opportunity to revisit older approvals in a bid to increase supply.

▲ There were concerns about the Dee Why development overshadowing the neighbouring Stony Range Regional Botanic Garden.

Meanwhile at North Sydney, Deicorp’s 22-storey Crows Nest proposal was approved by the commission after it was rejected by the North Sydney Council.

“The commission found that the project is consistent with the applicable strategic planning framework,” the commission said in its statement of reasons for decision.