Earlier this year, the NSW Government confirmed that they’d be converting the ghost platforms along Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs line into an operational train station, and would be building 10,000 new homes in the area. Despite some pushback, the first steps toward Woollahra Station – the city’s first new train station in more than a decade – are officially underway.
Today (Monday, November 17), infrastructure teams have begun early investigation work around the future station site, mapping out ground conditions, locating underground utilities and poking around the rail corridor to inform the final concept design. Locals around Edgecliff Road, Wallaroy Road and Weeroona Avenue have already found the heads-up in their letterboxes, as workers begin daytime shifts and two nights of activity between November 17 and 28. According to Transport for NSW, this first phase of work won’t impact commute times along the existing line.
For context, the project won’t involve the creation of a whole new station – it will be a finalisation of the half-built foundations laid (and then abandoned) in the 1970s. The adjoining rezoning project will see the creation of thousands of affordable homes close to the CBD, a housing project that Planning Minister Paul Scully promises is “helping progress the rebalancing of housing growth.”
According to the NSW Government, the project is a strategic reboot for a suburb, which has been growing backwards over the past few decades. While Greater Sydney has experienced population growth of 74 per cent over the past 50 years, the population of Woollahra has declined by 11 per cent – mostly the result of limited (and very expensive) housing. Housing approvals in Woollahra lag behind almost every other LGA, and the area’s tightly held streets have long resisted new density.
The new station will anchor a broader, state-led rezoning that aims to rebalance where Sydney grows, creating homes close to transport, parks, jobs and essential services. Affordable housing requirements will be baked into the process, which is expected to take around two years .
Unsurprisingly, not all residents are in support of the plans, but the NSW Government is resolute in the benefit that this new crop of well-located affordable housing will have on Sydney, with Planning Minister Paul Scully explaining that “every corner of the state needs to do their part” to address the state’s housing crisis.
More investigation work inside the rail corridor is set for early next year, and the NSW Government has promised to keep the community in the loop as the project ramps up. You can learn more about the project over here.
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