Read SMH article ‘Really bad planning’: Wendy Whitely joins the fight against Sydney high-rise apartments by Megan Gorrey, 17 November 2025

• plans to build four 30 storey towers in Lavender Bay impacting on Wendy Whitely’s “secret garden”.
• Lavender Bay are protesting against four large developments they claim would loom over the tiny harbourside enclave, encroach on privacy, block sunlight, strain infrastructure and impinge on the character of Wendy Whitely’s’s state heritage-listed garden.
• Wendy Whitely donated her time and money to transform a once-derelict junkyard next to her house into a lush public harbourside garden beneath her Lavender Bay home. Her personal mission helped help her through the grief she felt when her husband, the artist Brett Whitely died and then her daughter Arkie
• The Lavender Bay high rise State Significant Developments will be assessed by the Housing Delivery Authority, that the NSW Government established to bypass local councils and fast-track new homes. It is now been legislated in the new planning legislation that was passed by both NSW Labor and NSW Liberals.
• The NSW government aims to build 377,000 homes by mid-2029.
• Whiteley moved to the suburb with her late husband, artist Brett Whiteley, in 1969, and spentyears turning a once-derelict junkyard next to her house into a lush public garden.
• Lavender Bay’ ‘s secret garden is now a tourist destination which many feel as magical, so close to the North Sydney CBD.
• North Sydney CBD is already densely populated with high rise but now there are plans to replace two office blocks near North Sydney train station with hundreds of apartments.
• There is a proposal to demolish the 18-storey Fujitsu building on Blue Street to be replaced with a 30-storey block with shops and 200 units; demolish the 14-storey Zurich building to be replaced for a 29-storey mixed-use development with 400 apartments, 195 of which would be co-living rooms; buildings around St Francis Xavier Church on Mackenzie Street would be demolished and replaced with three blocks up to 20 storeys, with 186 apartments, including 50 so-called “affordable housing” dwellings; other medium density apartments on the corner of Lavender and Middlemiss streets, close to the Bradfield Highway, are proposed to be demolished to rebuild 140 apartments in three buildings of up to 20 storeys. Only 3 per cent of dwellings would be affordable housing.
• Clare Loewenthal, Residents Opposing Lavender Bay Overdevelopment (ROLBO) is fighting against these 0 metres tall buildings and how they would devastate the character of Lavender Bay HeritageConservation Area.
• Clare Loewenthal is reported as saying:“You can’t put huge towers of 20 storeys next to these tiny little workers’ cottages and terraces,and think it’s not going to have a huge impact. It’s the whole character of Lavender Bay that’sat risk . . . It’s one of the oldest areas in Sydney, and Ithink we have a duty to future generations to preserve those”. She is also concerned about the potential loss of two social housing blocks for the Lavender Street development
• The towers would be built on three sites close to North Sydney station, which sits on a hill overlookingLavender Bay.
• If approved, the four proposals would deliver a combined 926 homes.
• North Sydney Council has a target to deliver 5900 new dwellings by mid-2029.
• North Sydney Mayor Zoe Baker said the council was urging the NSW government to ensure the three projects near the station were “considered collectively and cumulatively” and had a precinct plan to protect sensitive heritage areas and public open space, and ensure the delivery of public benefits, such as through-site links.
• North Sydney Council is also worried that converting office blocks to residential buildings would undermine North Sydney’s employment zone and that each of the proposals are assessed in isolation so that the impacts collectively are ignored.
• The NSW government wants to build more housing near train stations but ignores their overshadowing impacts on parks and gardens.
• Planning Institute of Australia national policy manager John Brockhoff said “The government has the prerogative to take fi rm action on housing approvals and use aspecial entity like the HDA,”

Lavender Bay Precinct Minutes, 31 July 2025

OVERDEVELOPMENT IN LAVENDER BAY – SITES BEING DECLARED STATE SIGNIFICANT
The Precinct noted that in May 2025, the Minister for Planning declared several sites in Lavender Bay to be State Significant Development (SSD). These sites include the corner of Lavender and Middlemiss Streets, as well as the St Francis Xavier Catholic Church lands at 1–13 and 17–19 Mackenzie Street and 211 Blues Point Road. This designation overrides local planning controls and compels a rezoning to allow the construction of large residential towers.


Residents expressed deep concern that the proposed substantial increase in building height and density could have severe adverse impacts on residential amenity and on the character and setting of nearby heritage-listed Victorian and Federation-era houses. There was also concern about the potential reduction in affordable and elderly housing, and the broader social consequences of such loss. The proposals were seen as setting a dangerous precedent, threatening the existing scale and character of low-rise apartment buildings throughout Lavender Bay and McMahons Point.
The SSD process is complex, and residents are keen to better understand the planning framework that underpins these proposals so they can provide informed and constructive input as the process progresses.


The Precinct welcomed the attendance of , Director of Planning at North Sydney Council, at the August meeting. His attendance will be a valuable opportunity for residents to ensure Council is fully aware of the community’s deep concerns and to advocate for Council to make strong submissions to the Department of Planning. It will also allow residents to ask questions directly and seek clarification on the implications of these developments and what
residents can do to protect the amenity and character of the area.


PA summary of the process and opportunities for community engagement is included in
Appendix A of these minutes.

20 November 2025