Ku-ring-gai Apartments Knocked Back Over Design Flaws

The development company is listed in court documents as BWSLD Killara II Pty Ltd, an entity associated in ASIC files with Kian Yap Ng and Kunjian Cui. It is co-owned by Bridgewell Capital and another company called SLD Development Twelve. 

The developers wanted to take advantage of the NSW Housing SEPP amendments for Killara’s Transport Oriented Development (TOD) precincts, given the site’s proximity to the station.

Designed by BKA Architecture, the plans detailed a nine-storey building with three levels of basement parking, with a mix of one- to four-bedroom apartments and parking for 95 cars. 

But the project faced obstacles after a deemed refusal of the project by Ku-ring-gai Council and a refusal by the Sydney Regional Planning Panel in November last year. 

The panel argued it was inconsistent with local character, did not allow for the required “generous” setbacks and had “excessive” building bulk. 

▲ Other projects are underway in the area like CPDM’s Gordon scheme, despite TOD precinct uncertainty last year.

The developers subsequently took the issue to the Land and Environment Court. 

Initially some elements of design were agreed upon, including knocking the project down to 46 apartments. 

The LEC considered the council’s claims that the proposal was inconsistent with the desired future character of the area.

The presiding LEC commissioner Peter Walsh said that while the proposal complies with building height and FSR controls, it was not enough.

When making its decision, the court put the Killara Development Control Plan above the state’s Apartment Design Guidelines, saying the ADG does not capture the context of the “garden setting and canopy trees” distinctive of the area. 

The LEC ruled that the proposal does not comply with the development control plan,s which keep the area, where median prices sit at $3.9 million for houses and $1.04 million for apartments, consistent.

▲ Another developer, Prosper, secured approval for a 74-unit project in the Ku-ring-gai LGA earlier this year.

On Lorne Avenue, there are generally “quite large” detached homes, the court heard, with some more recent five-storey apartment buildings in the vicinity. 

The SEPP Housing rules allow height uplift and housing density alongside “contextually responsive design” the commissioner pointed out. 

But taking that into account, the commissioner “found the quality of design wanting”. 

“The subject design would not contribute to its context but would instead take something of significance away,” Walsh said. 

The LEC commissioner ruled that the proposed design configuration was “unacceptable” and did not warrant a grant of consent. Walsh dismissed the developer’s appeal.

The Ku-ring-gai TOD precincts were thrown into turmoil last year when the council announced its own scheme. The NSW Government put an end to the uncertainty by endorsing its new plans and bringing the local government area into the TOD fold late last year. 

But this hasn’t stopped developers forging ahead with development in the LGA, with $136-million apartment plans in the offing and Prosper securing approval for a $92-million complex at St Ives.