A new State Significant Development (SSD) has been lodged for 166 Epping Road, Lane Cove West, signalling a renewed attempt to redevelop a prominent gateway site.
According to the Scoping Report prepared for Epic Doncaster Pty Ltd, the proposal seeks approval for a mixed-use development with concurrent rezoning, comprising:
- Two towers of 16 and 23 storeys
- Ground floor commercial uses to activate Epping Road Lane Cove West
- Residential apartments, including 15% affordable housing
- Basement parking
The land is currently zoned E4 General Industrial and commercial premises; shop-top housing and residential apartments are not permitted in this zone.
Access to the site is via Epping Road. It has long been seen by developers as a residential area due to its accessibility and proximity to employment centres.
The new proposal aligns with broader NSW Government priorities to increase housing supply.
It is located along a transport corridor serviced by Region 7 buses. Since Busways took over providing bus services, the Region 7 bus area has been plagued by cancellations or long waits.
The proposal includes affordable housing.
Not the First Time Developers Have Tried to Develop This Site For Housing
A planning proposal was lodged in 2019. Developers wanted to amend the Lane Cove Local Environmental Plan (LEP) to enable a similar mixed-use scheme.
The 2019 proposal included:
- Residential, commercial and tourist accommodation uses
- A maximum height of approximately 87 metres
- A floor space ratio (FSR) of 4:1
- Approximately 9,000sqm of commercial floor space and 316 dwellings.
However, the proposal was formally refused on 27 April 2020 after the proposal was reviewed by the Sydney North Planning Panel.
Lane Cove Council objected to the proposal.
The Sydney North Planning Panel agreed with the Lane Cove Council and refused the proposal on the following grounds:
Mismatch with Existing Zoning
At the time, the land was zoned industrial (IN2), and there was insufficient strategic justification to convert it to high-density residential and mixed use. This lack of alignment with the LEP was a critical barrier.
Scale and Intensity
The proposed height (up to 87m) and FSR (4:1) were considered excessive relative to the planning controls and surrounding context at the time, particularly given the area had not yet been formally identified for such density.
Strategic Planning Concerns
The rezoning was effectively a site-specific uplift rather than part of a broader precinct plan. Planning authorities often resist “spot rezonings” without a clear strategic framework.
Infrastructure and Traffic Impacts
Supporting studies (including traffic and parking assessments submitted with the proposal) highlight the complexity of accommodating additional density on Epping Road, a corridor already experiencing congestion and heavy traffic flows. The panel noted that the proposal failed to demonstrate that vehicular access arrangements were safely achievable. They also noted that the site had only one entry/egress route, which was a risk to emergency vehicles.
Limited Public Benefit
The proposal did not clearly demonstrate strong public benefits such as affordable housing or broader community infrastructure contributions, making it harder to justify the scale.
In particular, the Sydney North Planning Panel noted:
“…the site is not identified in a strategic precinct, nor is it considered an appropriate area for housing. Further, the Lane Cove West employment lands are specifically identified under the Lane Cove Council Strategic Planning Statement to be protected and managed for industrial and urban services.
The Panel also considered that the proposal fails the site-specific merit tests as the rezoning of the site comprises potential future IN2 (Light Industrial) uses in the precinct and would likely result in land use conflicts with the surrounding industrial properties. “
How Does the New Development Differ?
The newly lodged State Significant Development attempts to overcome these issues identified above by:
- The Developers are using the SSD pathway, which allows the NSW Government to assess projects of strategic importance
- Bundling rezoning with the development, rather than relying on existing controls
- Including 15% affordable housing, aligning with state housing priorities
- Positioning the proposal within evolving planning support for higher-density development along major transport corridors.
Other Developments in the Area
The new residential towers will be located not far from the AirTrunk data centre. There is currently one Air Trunk Data Centre operating, one approved and one 140MW submitted for planning approval in the Lane Cove West Business Park. Read more about the growth of data centres in Lane Cove West Business park here.
It will also be located not far from another data centre located at Julius Avenue, North Ryde.
Next Step
The next step is for the developers to lodge an Environmental Impact Statement. Once the EIS is lodged, Planning NSW will call for submissions.
To view the planning documents lodged so far, click here.
Cover Photo: Map from Scoping Document lodged with NSW Planning
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