Is this what you want?
for Gladesville village centre
If not, now is the time to speak up!
Hunters Hill Council’s new plan for the Gladesville Village Centre ‘Key Site’ is now on public exhibition, so you have until the 24th of April to make your submission if you think Gladesville deserves better than this.
What is Council proposing?
Council has abandoned its previous Gladesville Masterplan for the town centre area from Pittwater Rd to Junction St, which went on public exhibition in 2021. Over $1 million of ratepayers’ money was spent on this Masterplan. Their new Planning Proposal is for just one site (the Key Site) including the Gladesville Shopping Village shopping centre. This site is almost wholly owned by the developer, Third.i Group.
Council’s new plan proposes an increase in floor space ratio (FSR) for the Key Site from 3:1 in the previous Masterplan to 4:1, which allows higher density development with 522 apartments on the site. It also proposes an increase in building heights of up to 70 m, allowing towers up to 19 stories. For reference, Gladesville Bridge is 45m!
What are the major issues with the plan?
Council has not listened to the community. Following exhibition of the previous Masterplan in 2021, the community feedback was that proposals of even 15 stories were too high. Council then resolved to investigate lower height options. They did not do this and now they are presenting us with increased height options.
The scale of the development is just too big – it’s cramming too many apartments onto one site. The huge towers create problems with overshadowing of neighbours, including Gladesville Public School. They will be massively out of scale with the surrounding area and will set a precedent for more of the same in the future. The excessive number of apartments will increase traffic and put even more pressure on public transport.
Too big… and it may get even bigger!
*Not only is the proposed development already too big, it’s possible we could end up with even more apartments and bigger towers if the developer decides to apply for the up to 30% bonus FSR and height increases offered under the NSW Government’s Affordable Housing incentive scheme. That could result in towers of up to 91 m (28-30 stories)!! Note that there is no provision for affordable housing in the current plan, which we think means it is highly likely the developer will pursue the bonus 30% uplift.
See our Issues page for more detail on these and other issues.
What can we do?
The good news is the plan is not set in stone yet, and the more people speak up to say they want something better the more likely it is that Council will amend the plan. Now is the time to speak up by making a submission!
How do I make a submission?
You don’t need to be an expert to make a submission and it can as short as a few sentences – just give your feedback. Go to our Submissions page for tips and links to where to lodge your submission.
Where can I view the plans?
You can view the Council’s plans via our Planning Documents page.
Please note that the images in the documents currently on exhibition are just hypotheticals at the moment. This phase of the process is about Council getting the planning controls changed to allow such an oversized development. The developer’s actual plans for designs of the buildings and open spaces come later.
Don’t wait till it’s too late –
get your submission in by 24 April 2026!
The Key Site.