Back in December 2022 the Sydney North Planning Panel rejected a DA by the owner of Eden Gardens (the Ainsworth family, registered as Thunderbirds Are Go Pty Ltd) on Lane Cove Road, Macquarie Park to build an 18 storey office tower and other facilities. This plan was originally rejected by Ryde Council in March 2021. The applicant made no attempt to address the many issues given for the council’s rejection such as traffic, visual impact and impact on Lane Cove National Park (LCNP) next door. Therefore, the panel’s rejection decision was expected.

The next step was inevitably a Land and Environment Court hearing. This occurred in February 2024. It has taken until September, more than six months later, for the court commissioner to make a final ruling. To everyone’s relief, the application was refused.

The judgement centred on the legal considerations of:

• a merit contention of whether the visual impact was acceptable
• a jurisdictional prerequisite that the traffic impact would satisfy the terms of the Transport and Infrastructure SEPP

Submissions on environmental impacts

Several representatives with an interest in LCNP made presentations to the court hearing such as the NPWS, Friends of Lane Cove National Park, 416 Group, STEP and aboriginal cultural and heritage representatives.

Ryde Council’s submission also made several objections to the impacts on LCNP:

The development creates an unacceptable interface with LCNP, impacting on fauna habitat values, vegetation integrity, aquatic ecological values with the jarring building height resulting in significant visual impacts upon sensitive surrounding areas. These impacts are inconsistent with the zone objectives of C1 National Parks and Nature Reserves within the Ryde LEP 2014.

The judgement made little reference to the environment. Negotiations prior to the hearing did lead to the addition of a condition of consent in relation to light spill. The only other environmental consideration was the impact of shading on an area of endangered Duffys Forest near the development that was discounted because it applied only during a short period of winter. Other issues raised such as risks to birds from reflection of sunlight off the tower, light disturbance to nocturnal animals or bushfire evacuation were not covered in the judgement.

There is going to be increasing pressure for development abutting bushland that will increase bushfire risks and impacts on wildlife. It is concerning that the legal process does not seem to give these issues enough consideration. Legal judgements usually quote extensively from other precedents that relate to past cases. Environmental issues are evolving all the time, especially the impacts of climate change. How can we progress the interest of the natural environment in this backward-looking situation?

The main issue – traffic

The development application (LDA2021/0095) was for alterations and additions to the existing garden centre and construction of an 18 storey office building including car parks with a total of 539 car spaces and additional dining space. All these aspects of the development will obviously generate more car movements. The garden centre is to remain in place.

A lot of the court hearing processes related to options for road access modifications and a proposed pedestrian bridge over Lane Cove Road. Nevertheless, the commissioner commented that the application process was fragmented in relation to this most important issue. She commented:

I observe, merely by way of comment, that none of the parties seem to have properly grappled with the status of the relevant roads adjoining the site until very late in the proceedings including up to and during the hearing.

Basically, the applicant contended that there would be no adverse impact on classified roads, namely Lane Cove Road and the M2 access ramps. When Ryde Council and Transport for NSW raised this issue they made an attempt to respond by proposing to build a pedestrian bridge over Lane Cove Road from near Fontenoy Road to Eden Gardens. The commissioner dismissed this as a ‘red herring’. It was a half-baked idea. Several trees would have to be removed that currently shield the unit blocks on the western side. It would not help commuters walking from the Metro Station as they would still have to cross the M2 link roads somehow. A few residents near Fontenoy Road might have benefitted, that is all.

The applicant suggested some options for easing congestion at the access to the site and intersection with Fontenoy Road. The commissioner considered that the modelling demonstrated that, even with the implementation of mitigation measures such as extra turning lanes, the volume of traffic generated by the development would have clear adverse effects on the safety, efficiency and ongoing operation of the M2 and Lane Cove Road.

Visual impact

The applicant’s experts argued that the tower was desirable because:

A tower form with its small footprint enables activation of the ground plan and uses that continue the functions that the community currently enjoy on the site.

They are also taking advantage of the situation that there is no height limit for the site specified in the Ryde LEP. There is however a maximum floor space ratio 1:1. The proposed development would have a floor space ratio of 0.996:1!

Four aspects of the obvious visibility of the 18 storey tower (80 m high) were considered:

• Consistency with the urban landscape as defined by the objectives of the Ryde LEP. The court decided that was compatible with the appearance of the area even though the tower would be 60% higher than the nearest tall buildings on the southern side of the M2.
• Its proximity to LCNP. The site is next to the Tunks Hill Picnic Area so one would expect an 80 metre high tower would have a big impact. Some experts argued that the picnic area is not totally immersed in the national park. Unfortunately, the LCNP website states that one of the features of the area is its ‘great views of Chatswood’. The fact that these are very distant views with dense forest in the foreground did not have any relevance to the court.
• Its proximity to other parts of LCNP is dismissed on the grounds that it would not be visible from other picnic areas or recognised walking tracks further into the park, where it would be screened by topography. This ignores the topography aspects for all the residents on the northern side of LCNP.
• Visibility to road users. Current views for drivers along Lane Cove Road, de Burghs Bridge and the M2 can enjoy a vista of bushland when travelling near the Eden Gardens site. Town planning experts provided differing views, one that the tower will have an adverse impact, another said the view would only be fleeting for cars on the M2 and there are already numerous views of high development nearby. The commissioner considers the impact to be acceptable. So much for the idea that cumulative impact of adding another high rise interruption to bushland views along the M2 is an intrusion for many people.

On these grounds the arguments about visual impact were deemed to not merit the refusal of the DA.

STEP representatives and many others with an interest in the well-being of the Lane Cove Valley attended a workshop on 16 August organised by Macquarie University. It was led by Dr Jo Rey from the Department of Indigenous Studies.

The restoration project is a recent Dhurag initiative aiming to return traditional custodial ontologies, knowledges, languages, practices to the Lane Cove River catchment in respectful alliance with existing stakeholders.

The goal is to bring best practices together for the well-being of Ngurra/country knowing that if we have healthy country we can have healthy people for a sustainable future.

The participants were representatives from local councils, academics, Macquarie Business Park companies, environment groups, indigenous communities, government organisations such as Sydney Water and NPWS.

The workshop was an initial idea sharing exercise to identify knowledge gaps, issues, barriers to improvement and initial priorities for action.

Urban planning impacts on the catchment

The workshop identified one of the major issues for the catchment is the lack of coordinated monitoring of water quality and modelling of stormwater management requirements. This is vital with the increasing incidence of extreme rainfall events and the rapid increase in residential development and associated infrastructure.

A matter of concern is that there are currently no flood-related development control provisions applying under the Ku-ring-gai local environmental plan. A number of catchment flood studies are being undertaken subject to funding from the NSW government but these are progressing very slowly.

Our planning system needs a major upgrade to improve stormwater controls and reduce pollution from run-off and erosion. All governments and organisations like Sydney Water have to be involved.

One initiative that relates to the Durumbura project was the cultural burn near Browns Waterhole that took place in April 2024. Dharug women and allies worked together to undertake the first (since earliest colonisation days) Dharug women’s-led cultural burn. The information in this story comes from Regenavitis, the newsletter of the Friends of Lane Cove National Park.

The cultural burn originated from an invitation and funding from the Department of Planning and Environment’s Cultural Fire Management Team to the Dharug Yanama Budyari Gumada Collective. Macquarie University was also involved with the management of the burn. It is the first time Dharug women have been invited by a government department to restore Dharug cultural knowledges, language, and practices through fire, as a Caring for Country initiative so close to the inner city.

It was actively supported by a variety of Dharug community members as well as the NPWS, Friends of Lane Cove National Park, the three relevant local councils (Hornsby, Ku-ring-gai and Ryde) and the Rural Fire Service. It took about four years to plan the project including preparing a review of environmental factors and developing the burn plan.

The journey involved Dharug women holding a women’s camp in May, 2023, thanks to Ryde Council permitting Dharug women to camp at Waterloo Park – another first! Over the three days of the camp, Dharug women renewed cultural connection to Ngurra/country, engaged in ceremonial practices, storytelling, yarning, weaving, made place-based art, did some tools-based training with NPWS, and engaged in digital data collection thanks to Macquarie University scientists. In the process, they were able to establish the presence of swamp wallabies, bandicoots, goannas, turtles, gudgeons, diamond pythons, echidnas, a large variety of culturally important plants, and, of course, ever-present multitudes of sulphur-crested cockatoos, bell minors, kookaburras, various finches, parakeets, and other important bird species. Soil testing, before and after the burn has also been undertaken to determine changes in soil quality.

Originally it was supposed to be completed by 2023, but due to COVID and poor weather conditions, the burn was delayed until 2024. As such the undergrowth grew in height from around 1 m in 2021 to nearly 2 m in 2024. Nevertheless, the delay allowed for greater time to plan and budget. In March, 2024, Dharug women and allies came together to prepare the site for the burn and it was completed in April. It will be interesting to observe the impact of the burn on the forest ecology in coming years.

Group’s summary of the experience was:

While Dharug women have undertaken the cultural burn according to our cultural priorities of nurturing Ngurra (her soils, plants, animals and other presences), we recognise that based on the contemporary context, working collaboratively together with our allies enables us to continue our cultural ways of knowing, being and doing, as well as bringing others along the journey to establish sustainable futures in the city. Undertaking our cool-fire burn approaches mitigates the threat of mega-fires in the Durrumburra Dhurabang (Lane Cove River) valley, and simultaneously restores and strengthens an appreciation of the values that caring for Ngurra/country enacts.

The EPA has released a discussion paper on a plan to reduce the use of plastic and the quantity of waste generated. Comments may be made via a survey or you can email a submission to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (closing date 6 November).

Due in part to past litter reduction initiatives such as the Return and Earn recycling scheme and the phase-out of lightweight plastic bags, there has already been a 49% reduction in litter density since 2018–19.

What about a major source of plastic – synthetic turf?

As an aside, there is a major source of plastic that is only going to get worse that is from synthetic turf playing fields and its general use for surfaces in parks and school grounds. This issue doesn’t come under the plan but could be referred to in submissions.

There is no effective method for recycling this product. Microplastics that end up in the environment from the break-up of the plastic grass blades and loose infill are a major concern that is being monitored by the AUSMAP project. There will be more about research on this in a future issue of STEP Matters.

Strong action is needed

There are still frightening statistics about the impact of litter and the volume of plastic ending up as waste in landfill. For example, in 2022–23, NSW alone generated 891,000 t of plastic waste. Only 14% of this was recycled.

About 79% of litter washed into our waterways is plastic. Plastic litter can have disastrous consequences and significant cost on the environment and communities.

For every piece of litter on land in NSW, nine times more can be found in our waterways.

As littered plastic items are exposed to water, sunlight and rain, they can break down over time into microplastics and leach potentially harmful chemicals into the environment. It can also entangle or be swallowed by marine animals.

Taking into account the direct costs of cleaning up litter, as well as the indirect costs associated with loss of amenity and environmental values, litter costs NSW more than $500 million.

Is the reduction plan good enough?

The Boomerang Alliance’s view on the proposals is that the plan includes some sound policy actions and a timeline for implementation, but many of these proposed measures may not deliver the needed reductions in plastic litter and waste. Here is a summary of their main points

Reusable cups at food venues (applied from 2027)

Currently, food venues may voluntarily accept reusable cups, but this needs to go further. All outlets should be required to offer reusable cups and containers or accept BYO, reducing reliance on disposables. In Europe, dine-in customers are never served with disposable food ware.

Recyclable single-use cups and containers (2027)

While recyclable or compostable containers are already common, the issue lies with inadequate collection systems. Simply labelling items for recycling won’t address the core issues.

Return and earn for single-use cups and containers (2030)

This proposal is both tokenistic and impractical. What we need is a robust reusable cup return system. Other countries have already implemented these models, which reduce plastic waste and greenhouse gas emissions. These systems could be adopted now.

Tethered caps on bottles (2030)

One never knows whether loose caps from milk and soft drink bottles can be recycled. Attached caps solve this question. This strong policy is already in place in Europe. So, why wait until 2030? Propose that it be introduced by 2026.

National approach to cigarette butt litter (2027)

Ideally eliminate cigarette filters altogether, as recommended by the World Health Organisation. A reusable holder could replace the need for single-use filters.

Elimination of harmful chemicals in packaging (2027)

While this is a positive step, if chemicals are harmful, they should not be used in the first place. Mandatory labelling of ‘green-listed’ chemicals is also essential.

Phase-out of microplastics (2025)

Support this, but there should be stronger measures, such as mandating filters on washing machines to capture microfibres, rather than relying on a proposed rating system by 2027.

Standards for reusable shopping bags (2025)

Require plastic shopping bags to be stored out of sight at the point of purchase and only provided on request, unless they are clearly designed for reuse or are part of an extended producer responsibility. Reusable bags must be durable, contain recycled content, and be recyclable at the end of their lifecycle.

Phase-out of various plastic items (2027)

Agree with the phase-out of plastic carrier bags, food tags, and other non-compostable items.

Ban on lighter-than-air balloons (2025)

This ban could be implemented immediately. There is no need to wait until 2025.

Phase out of expanded and foamed plastic trays and packaging (2025)

Support this phase-out and believe it should be done as soon as possible.

A final word on the Australian recycling label

This system needs to ensure that labelled items are genuinely recycled, reused, or composted. Without this, it’s simply greenwashing.