You have to feel a sense of sympathy for the residents of Ku-ring-gai. It's all well and good to have a local council outspoken but it does seem that the Ku-ring-gai Council have made it their mission to be at the forefront of the Transport Oriented Developments chats. While going into bat for your locals is more than commendable, is KRG council's decision to take legal action against the state government necessary?
Those same ratepayers I extend sympathy towards will be the ones to foot the bill as their council gears up for the legal showdown with the NSW Government over housing reforms.
Ku-ring-gai councillors unanimously voted to challenge new 'transport-oriented development' rules designed to ramp up housing density near train stations.
This move marks the council's bold escalation in opposing the reforms, though they're keeping quiet on just how much cash they're willing to splash on the courtroom battle, dubbing it 'confidential'.
Ku-ring-gai Mayor Sam Ngai discussed with The Post, the council's approach to taking legal action against the government.
“The legal action is taken on reluctantly, and if we had been given the same opportunity as the 12 other councils then it would not have been necessary. It seeks to invalidate the TOD but we have realistic expectations that even if the TOD is invalidated,”
“But what the legal action does achieve, if successful, is to buy us time to properly plan for these precincts.”
“As a councillor, I have to listen to all resident groups and some have either YIMBY or NIMBY leanings. But at the end of the day, I need to make decisions that are in the interest of future ratepayers.”
Councillor Cedric Spencer has had his fair share of criticism from outspoken community members in the ongoing TOD discussions, commenting on the activist group that had made a point to scrutinise Cr Spencer after his doubts in a legal battle with the state government.
“FOKE is the only activist group that has attempted to label me as “selling out Ku-ring-gai for high rise,” when I was hoping to defer the implementation of TOD SEPP in Gordon, Killara, Lindfield and Roseville – where FOKE resides.”
But Cr Spencer still remained clear as to why he fears a legal battle might not fall the way of said outspoken locals.
“I believe that continuing with legal action is, especially when council’s arguments were based on issues approved on 8/5/24, redundant and a waste of ratepayers' money when it does not seek to stop or overturn TODs.”
“Council will be ‘fighting’ legal battles in multiple fronts, when we could have negotiated with the State Government, and avoided all these.”
Paul Scully, Minister for Planning and Public Spaces told The Post that an ongoing legal battle with Ku-ring-gai will not stop any developmental applications anytime soon.
“The TOD SEPP was made on April 2024 at the four TOD sites in Ku-ring-gai local government area, meaning new planning controls are in effect. The legal case has had no impact on the introduction of the SEPP, development applications can be lodged.
“It’s disheartening to hear that a Mayor could be so unwilling to do their bit to confront the housing crisis that they would rather spend their money on a legal case rather than on their communities, local infrastructure and services.”
In the battle of councils versus governments, Ku-ring-gai seems determined to make a stand. But as legal fees stack up, one wonders: will the bill for justice end up weighing more heavily on the ratepayers than the reforms themselves?
