We have previously described the process that Ku-ring-gai Council has been following to try to get land known as the Secret Garden at 1192 Pacific Highway, Pymble reclassified from community to operational land so that it could be sold. Council regards the land as a liability as its inaccessibility and location makes maintenance difficult and it is too small to provide open space benefits to the community.

The proposal was reviewed by an independent commissioner who recommended that the proposal not go ahead mainly because of the high biodiversity value from its classification as Blue Gum High Forest.

The issue was on the agenda of the meeting in October. The staff report recommended that the reclassification of the land should go ahead. This would enable other options to be considered for the site, most likely divestment. This would transfer cost of management, surveillance and use of the land, including care of the onsite mapped trees and vegetation, to a new owner. The landowner of the undeveloped land next door at 1190/1190A Pacific Highway, zoned for high density, has expressed interest in acquiring the land to augment their floor space ratio potential and to deliver the open space and tree planting requirements of their future development.

Despite many residents at the forum arguing against reclassification the councilors voted to proceed with the Department of Planning’s process to declare the land as operational land. They agreed to pursue an option to explore sale of the land to an adjacent property owner if it can be linked to a voluntary planning agreement that re-dedicates a material portion of the block back to the public. This would require improved public accessibility of this portion but also additional development rights elsewhere on the consolidated site. If the agreement cannot be achieved within four years, then Council may subsequently decide to reclassify the land back to community land.