Reprinted for the August 2026 Village Voice

COUNCIL’S ALTERNATE APPROACH TO THE WOOLLAHRA AND EDGECLIFF STATE-LED REZONING PROPOSAL

As Woollahra residents anxiously await details of the Minns Labor government’s rezoning plans for Woollahra and Edgecliff with up to 10,000 new dwellings and more than 20,000 new residents over ten years, Woollahra Council is recommending an alternative approach. There is a better way to increase housing supply without destroying heritage, trees and the much-loved character of the area that does not abandon good urban design and won’t create traffic gridlock for Sydney’s east.

It was in August last year that the Premier suddenly announced a plan to revive the long-dormant Woollahra station, together with a local state-led rezoning proposal which would pave the way for a massive increase in density by adding 10,000 new dwellings to the locality. While details were (and remain) scarce, it was clear that this would mean a radical change in the character of Woollahra. Other than an unbudgeted promise to resuscitate an abandoned train station, no other infrastructure support or funding has been committed.

The rezoning is likely to double the total current population of Woollahra, Edgecliff, Darling Point, Double Bay and Point Piper combined. We are expecting to see the government’s plans drop in September, about six months ahead of the state government election in March 2027.

Mayor of Woollahra Councillor Sarah Dixson has said, ‘We are not opposed to doing our bit to increase housing supply. We already had targets in place, and had lodged the approved Edgecliff Strategy to the department for approval, but it was nothing like the excessive uplift that is being proposed by the government.’

Council has taken the decisive step of creating an Alternate Approach, one that proposes an ambitious but much-reduced number of new dwellings and adheres to essential planning principles. Importantly, the approach respects, protects and enhances heritage and the area’s topography, existing built form and streetscape.

Announcing their Alternate Approach on 13 August, council are determined to provide a more realistic and well-planned pathway to increasing housing supply capacity in Woollahra. It would allow for between 2200 and 3600 new dwellings, with careful consideration given to existing and future infrastructure needs, economic feasibility and geographical positioning.

Council’s Alternate Approach, which can be viewed on their website at https://www.woollahra.nsw.gov.au/Building-and-development/State-Led-Rezoning-Around-Edgecliff-and-proposed-Woollahra-Stations, is based on urban planning and development best practice. It accommodates the provision of open and green spaces as well as controlling uplift to protect against clustering multistorey towers too close together, which would create wind tunnels of luxury units, sparse streetscapes, loss of sunlight and views.

Current pricing guidelines show the median prices for apartments in the two suburbs bordering Woollahra as follows: Bondi Junction, between $2.5 million and $4 million; and Edgecliff, between $3 million and $6 million. In Woollahra, the median price is between $4 million and $8 million.

The reason developers are interested in Woollahra is that they can build ultra-luxury units, yielding an attractive profit margin. Some units may need to be designated for affordable housing, but current levels have only been around the 5% mark or less. This could leave over 9000 units that would be on the market at $4 million or more. Assuming it takes 15 years to build the 100 towers required, that would be an additional 600 $4-million-plus units on the market every year for 15 years. To put that in perspective, in 2025, the total number of units sold above $4 million in Woollahra, Edgecliff, Darling Point, Double Bay and Point Piper was just under 100.

Council is also acutely aware of the many practical issues relating to development in Woollahra: the stability of reclaimed land (such as that around Manning Road), existing underground rail lines, and the preservation of the native tree canopy around the Woollahra station site.

Under council’s Alternate Approach, most development would be limited to areas already cited for major housing development (the high side of Edgecliff Road for example) and flatter areas which are more conducive to additional housing.

Mayor Dixson says, ‘If the state government is serious about housing people, rather than playing political games that pit west against east, they’ll look seriously at our Alternate Approach.

‘To date, it seems that the state-led rezoning announcement is nothing more than a free pass for developers, with no benefits for the future of Woollahra.

‘We are deeply concerned about the following issues and trust you will be too: height, scale, shadowing and solar access, loss of tree canopy, infrastructure (beyond one unfunded train station) and open space to support the increase in population, burden on services, schools and preschools, heritage conservation areas, market demand, housing affordability and housing for essential workers, impact on parking, traffic and transport, flooding, local character and view loss.’

Together we must do all we can to increase housing supply without abandoning good urban design which is aimed at making cities and suburbs liveable and affordable. This should be the shared priority of communities and government, not profits for developers and a legacy of soulless, gloomy high-rise towers few can afford, or want, to live in.

CHRISTINE WHISTON