Rezoning Plans for 9400 Apartments at Woollahra ‘Ghost Station’

Plans are on show for 9400 new homes around the reactivated “ghost station” at Woollahra, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. A State-led Rezoning Proposal now on exhibition is seeking to amend the Woollahra Local Environmental Plan 2021 (WLEP) to allow heights up to 34 storeys around the existing Edgecliff Station. At Woollahra Station, which was partially built but abandoned in the 1970s , works would be completed by 2029 to finally stand up the facility, while heights up to 32 storeys would be allowed in the vicinity. Transport minister John Graham said that the scheme would bring Woollahra in to the transport orientated housing solution. “The future residents of these homes will be eight minutes from the CBD on train line that was built decades ago,” Graham said. “As we get to work on the rezoning, we’re also working on the design of the new Woollahra train station which we expect to start building next year.” Public open space would total 3.5ha across seven new and six upgraded parks and a plaza, while a 3 per cent affordable housing contribution would be mandated, and 15 per cent on particular sites. ▲ While the station at Woollahra is incomplete and disused, the train lines are active. The proposal also includes value capture provisions. Projects within 800m of Woollahra Station would contribute $15,000 per home, or $200 per square metre of new commercial gross floor area, in the form of a Transport Project Component levy. Premier Chris Minns said that a small number of communities had absorbed the majority of Sydney’s housing growth over the past decade, while some parts of the city had barely changed. “We can’t keep pushing all of Sydney’s growth to the west and the urban fringe while established suburbs close to jobs, transport and services are locked away from new housing,” Minns said. “We’re not asking Woollahra to solve the housing crisis on its own. We’re asking Woollahra to make a fair contribution, just as we’re asking communities right across Sydney to do.” ▲ Densification would focus around the existing Edgecliff Station, and the re-activated Woollahra Station. Planning minister Paul Scully pointed out that the number of Woollahra residents had been shrinking despite the growth in Sydney’s population. A 2023 HOPE Housing report found that the eastern suburbs lost 11 per cent of its essential workers between 2016 and 2021. KPMG director of planning Terry Rawnsley has previously attributed the phenomenon to affordability in the region, with working-age residents leaving while empty nesters struggle to find appropriate downsizer homes. Council and community pushback Woollahra mayor Sarah Dixson has been vocal against the plan, saying it will force “9400 new luxury apartments and 21,000 additional residents…[into] one of Sydney’s most densely populated areas, without the infrastructure needed to support basic liveability”. Deputy mayor Sean Carmichael has taken a separate position, telling The Urban Developer that the council had resolved to propose an alternative for 3600 units, but that he accepted the state proposal came from “the lawmaker’s quill”. ▲ The new Woollahra Station would be integrated with a mixed-use precinct. “There is a housing crisis, and the state government has shifted from just dropping units here and everywhere, to a strategic planning approach with the Sydney Plan ,” Carmichael said. While densification was inevitable, Carmichael said he hoped significant amendments to the plan could be made through the consultation process. “It’s a very significant proposal, but it’s important that we get this right, and we should do it on our terms. That requires coming to the table. “I think everyone would be better off with a lower number of taller, slimmer towers…I’d like to know how high these buildings can go without hitting the aviation requirements, and I suspect that’s at least 45 storeys in a lot of places.” Separately, Conquest chief executive Michael Akkawi has been lobbying for reform of the complicated regulatory regime around aviation height requirements. ▲ Carmichael said heights up to 45 storeys may make sense for Woollahra. Carmichael said the development community should also provide input into the feasibility of redistributing floorspace and typologies into higher buildings. An appropriate solution might find a community-tailored outcome, such as what was achieved in neighbouring Bondi Junction. There, a 3000-home densification plan was approved by Waverley Council in July. On the proposal to redevelop the Defense facilities at Victoria Barracks into a residential precinct , Carmichael asked “why should we be selling off our Australian history?”. “This is my personal opinion because of the significance of the site…this is a proud moment of Anzac history that deserves to be commemorated appropriately.”

Apartments
Patrick Lau
Wed 09 Sep 26

Rezoning Plans for 9400 Apartments at Woollahra ‘Ghost Station’

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ApartmentsPatrick LauWed 09 Sep 26

Rezoning Plans for 9400 Apartments at Woollahra ‘Ghost Station’

Get the full story.

Private Credit’s SEQ Risk Radar Swings to Market

Your Land is Worth Millions—Until the State Makes Its Own Plans

Sites Are Scarce, Backlash Is Growing

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Apartments
Patrick Lau
Wed 09 Sep 26