An approved 97,000 sqm residential concept at 37 – 39 Hill Road in Wentworth Point is being reworked to extract an additional 15,520 sqm of residential floor space, tied to a 15% affordable housing offer.
The 62,360 sqm peninsula site sits within an established high-density precinct, framed by Hill Road, Verona Drive and Homebush Bay, with existing approvals already locking in multiple residential blocks.
The DA targets Blocks A and B, which have not progressed beyond concept approval, and seeks to modify the existing consent rather than lodge a new scheme.
The uplift is being driven through a combination of increased building heights and a new tower element, delivering:
Commercial floorspace remains limited at 405m², consistent with the original approval.
The key planning tension sits in how the uplift is being justified.
The site is not subject to standard LEP height or FSR controls, meaning the Housing SEPP bonus provisions cannot technically be applied. Instead, the proposal is testing a merit-based pathway to replicate the same 30% uplift typically enabled under the policy.
This effectively pushes beyond DCP controls rather than LEP controls, which creates a different precedent layer for similar sites across Sydney where planning frameworks sit outside standard LEP structures.
The surrounding precinct already supports towers up to 25 storeys, with additional proposals including 50-storey buildings nearby, reinforcing the broader intensification trajectory.
This is less about a single site uplift and more about how far affordable housing incentives can be stretched into non-standard planning frameworks.
If supported, it opens a pathway for density increases across other legacy precincts governed by DCP-style controls rather than LEPs.
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