Court Victory Clears Way for Double Bay Shoptop Plan

Primo Developments ’ plans for one of Sydney’s high-end suburbs have this month been approved on appeal by the NSW Land and Environment Court. The Bondi Junction developer proposed a shoptop apartment project for a “historically significant road” in Double Bay, filing its 13-unit plans with the Woollahra Council in January of 2024 . It plans to demolish three buildings on the site, at 426-440 New South Head Road, and build a part-five, part-six storey project with ground and first-floor retail components. The application was notified in February of 2024 and no public submissions were received. However, the application was not determined by the council and in May the applicants of the project—Primo Developments Double Bay, Sayed Holdings and MHN Design Union—filed an appeal with the court. The site is in the Local Centre Zone for Double Bay, and separated by one residential building from the medium-density zone to the east. The council contended that the development was “inconsistent with the desired future character of the area” due to its height, bulk and scale, especially as there is a maximum of five storeys allowed in the zone. ▲ A render of the Primo Developments project. The judgment considered in detail the “competing opinions as to what constitutes the desired future character” of the area, and how height and floor space ratio exceedance fit into it. It referred to previous considerations of the court that the northern side of the New South Head Road, and that the Double Bay Centre Planning and Urban Design Strategy 2023 foreshadows a 19m height limit on the subject site, consistent with a neighbouring development. The judge also said that the height could be accounted for in the topography of the site, meaning the street height wall went from three to four storeys, saying that they did not believe the height limits of the Strategy “proceeds on the false assumption of flat earth in Double Bay”. The court ruled that the proposed development was consistent with the future character of the area, and that Primo had sufficiently demonstrated that compliance with height and FSR standards is unreasonable or unnecessary. The court upheld the appeal. The decision comes as developers continue to push the planning policies of the Double Bay area. As reported by The Urban Developer , plans for a $27-million, six-storey commercial building are the latest to push Woollahra Council’s planning controls. The proposal for 393-399 New South Head Road would replace the Commonwealth Bank branch and include ground-floor retail, five levels of office space and two basement levels of parking, accessed via a car lift. As well, developers are increasingly seeing the court pathway as an alternative to blown-out council assessment timelines. However, recent NSW reforms, including the Housing Delivery Authority, which earmarked its first 11 projects to be fast-tracked this month followed by another tranche that approved 23 applications for the State Significant Development pathway, may well affect that trend.

Court Victory Clears Way for Double Bay Shoptop Plan

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