A no-rules planning system is threatening Newcastle
If this first ‘State Significant Development’ is approved under new state government planning laws, say goodbye to the rulebook — your neighbourhood will be next.
Don’t let this proposal at 47 Darby Street set a new precedent for Newcastle.
The formal public submissions period has now closed. A big thank you to everyone who made a submission.
You can still send informal feedback to the NSW Department of Planning for consideration during the assessment process. Email fiona.dowler@dpie.nsw.gov.au
Application ID: SSD-82276964
Also write to Tim Crakanthorp.
We want more homes and density in Newcastle, we want it done well, and we want Sydney to listen!
What’s going on?
Controversial new planning laws introduced by the Minns Labor Government have handed developers a blank cheque. These watered-down laws will destroy decades of careful planning, allowing massive building height blowouts to spread beyond the city centre and out of town centres.
The first proposal under the new system is this fast-tracked 12- and 7-storey LUXURY apartment complex which, if approved, would irreversibly change Newcastle’s most culturally and historically significant precinct and tower over our two-storey art gallery.
Legal building height limit: 14 metres
Proposed height limit: 45 metres
From this:
To something like this:
Major planning decisions for Newcastle to be made in Sydney
This proposal is the first of many opportunistic and grossly oversized residential developments now possible under the NSW Government’s new Housing Delivery Authority (HDA) and planning reforms.
Under the new Authority, major residential projects can be fast-tracked by the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, with final decisions made by the Planning Minister and an unelected panel of three senior bureaucrats.
What this could mean for your neighbourhood
- Local development rules no longer apply
- Council can’t stop it
- High-rise towers can spread beyond the city and town centres like The Junction, Hamilton, Islington, Cooks Hill, Waratah, Adamstown, Tighes Hill and more
- Heritage protections are substantially weakened
- You only get 14 days to have your say on major developments near you.
We want more homes and density in Newcastle, we want it done well, and we want Sydney to listen!
FAQs
The Civic and Cultural Precinct belongs to all of us — landmarks, public buildings, parks, war memorials, places of worship, and open space. New development here must reflect community values, respect heritage, and follow local planning rules.
This proposal does the opposite.
WATCH: Stories of our town: Architecture of the Civic Precinct
Key concerns:
Excessive height & bulk: The legal height limit at this location is 14 metres. The developer wants to in increase it to 45m through a ‘spot rezone’.
Impact on public spaces: The front tower will visually dominate the two-storey art gallery, Civic Park, gardens, landmarks, and historic and cultural buildings, war memorials and places of worship.
Poor design & setbacks: Inadequate setbacks on both buildings, making the buildings appear bulky and overbearing.
Strategic failure: Conflicts with Newcastle’s long-standing strategy to concentrate high-rise in dedicated corridors and precincts.
Minimal public benefit: The proposal provides low public benefit relative to its impact on a regionally significant civic space, regardless of the provision of housing.
Traffic pressures: Adds strain to Tyrrell, Laman, and Darby Streets, including school and pre-school road and foot traffic.
Poor consultation: The developer failed to publish an artist impression of the design until this 14-day public exhibition period. Given the significance of the location and lasting impact on the Civic Precinct, consultation has not met the standard of consultation required of a State Significant Development.
Mine subsidence: Newcastle has long dealt with mine subsidence, but this site is worse than most. It sits over an additional undermined coal seam (the Yard Seam), a known risk when the land was bought. The cost of extra grouting/ground stabilisation shouldn’t be used as an excuse to push for bigger buildings at the expense of our Civic Precinct when there are other, less constrained sites across the city. See the subsidence map.
Loss of heritage: The 1930’s, Interwar Period former electrical machine shop will be demolished to make way for the rear building on Tyrrell Street. This building is considered a ‘Contributory 2’ Historic Building by City of Newcastle.
The proposal also involves the demolition of the brutalist-style Markey Building (former Channel 10 building). Newcastle’s brutalist architecture is identified in the draft Newcastle City-wide Thematic History (2025).
You can view all documents for the 47 Darby Street proposal on the NSW Planning Portal.
If you’re overwhelmed by the volume of documents, the Urban Design Report is the most useful.
Sydney-based firm, Vivacity Property.
“The people of NSW should be seriously concerned about the Minns Government’s Housing Delivery Authority.
It’s unfathomable that at a time when the Minns Government is banning councils from having confidential briefings – they have given an unelected three-person panel the power to decide on the biggest housing developments in the state in complete secrecy.”
Dr Michelle Byrne, Mayor of Hills Shire Council
The NSW Housing Delivery Authority (HDA) has been created to fast-track major housing developments by removing decision-making power from local councils and significantly limiting community input.
Run by an unelected panel of three senior officials based in Sydney, the HDA identifies large residential projects (valued at more than $30 million in Newcastle) and recommends them for assessment under the State Significant Development (SSD) pathway. This is an assessment and approval process traditionally used for major public infrastructure such as schools, hospitals and motorways, as well as large private projects including mines and renewable energy developments. Now it’s being used for housing developments.
Based on the HDA panel’s recommendation, the NSW Planning Minister may declare a proposal to be State Significant Development. Once declared, the project bypasses Council’s development application process and the Joint Regional Planning Panel, and is instead assessed entirely by the NSW Department of Planning. The final approval decision rests with the Planning Minister.
While the HDA was created as a lever to address the housing crisis, the way it is now operating is becoming clear. Developers whose projects are declared State Significant are incentivised to lodge the tallest and most profitable designs possible, often at the luxury end of the market, while seeking to exceed established height limits, density controls and overshadowing protections.
For Newcastle, this is particularly alarming. The city already has clearly defined locations for high-rise development and significant capacity for growth. Yet proposals such as this one at 47 Darby Street could now be pushed into areas where high-rise development was never intended.
This first proposal could set a precedent for many more like it, which is why it’s important to have your say.
- Write to our state politicians here.
- Subscribe for updates here.
- Share this page!
Preliminary planning advice from Council for 47 Darby Street, City of Newcastle, 6 November 2025
Newcastle City Centre Area Mine Subsidence Advisory Guidelines, NSW Subsidence Advisory, 2017 – Altered to include Yard Seam and previous grouting projects and costs in the higher-risk zone.
Development Control Plan 2023, Section E5 Newcastle City Centre, City of Newcastle
NSW PlanningPortal Spatial Viewer, NSW Government – Use to view zoning and building heights in the Local Environment Plan (LEP)
Heritage Listing and Maps, City of Newcastle, 2026.
Newcastle HDA scheme seeks height uplift for 13-storey tower, Urban Digest, 7 February 2026
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