2 Tessa Street Childcare Centre DA Goes to a Full Land and Environment Court Hearing

A Conciliation Conference  was held on March 14th, 2024 by the Land and Environment court between the two parties, Mike & Shan Pty Ltd as Trustee for the Wu and Kho Family Trust and  Willoughby City Council to resolve the matter of a proposed childcare centre to be developed  at 2 Tessa Street (at the intersection of Tessa Street and View Street in Chatswood West).  The Conciliation Conference commenced with an opportunity for the local community to address the court and ended with the parties unable to reach an agreement during the Conciliation Conference.  A full hearing date has been set by the Land and Environment court for October 14th – 18th. 

At the end of the DA public comment period on February 14th, 2023, Willoughby Council undertook an extensive evaluation of the Development Application (DA-2022/394) related to the proposal for the construction of a multilevel centre-based childcare facility, to accommodate 145 children between the age 0 and 6 years, including a basement comprising of 28 car parking spaces at 2 Tessa Street, Chatswood. Between March 2023 and May 2023, the council and the applicant engaged in several rounds of discussions and clarifications related to the DA. On 28 June 2023, Sydney North Planning Panel held a kick-off briefing. The applicant did not attend the meeting and subsequently on 28 July 2023, the applicant commenced Class 1 proceedings in the Land and Environment Court of NSW.

In preparation for the Sydney North Planning panel hearing, the council issued a report on September 8th, 2023 with a recommendation of, “Refusal” of the application. The refusal was based on a number of factors outlined in Attachment 8: Reason for Refusal.  The main reasons were: overdevelopment of the property, pedestrian safety, excessive floor space, inconsistencies with the child care planning guidelines, impact on the character and significance of  Blue Gum Heritage Conservation Area, traffic and parking impacts to the area.

The Sydney North Planning panel public meeting was held on September 20th, 2023.  The Sydney North Planning panel gave the community an opportunity to address the panel and air the general concerns on the community.  On September 26th, the Sydney North Planning panel decided to also refuse the application. The reasons cited were, “The Panel noted Council’s extensive recommended reasons for refusal and further noted during the public meeting that the lack of a report addressing possible Site Contamination was a threshold issue for the proposal given it involved a child-care centre.”

The panel further noted, “the Applicant did not attend the public meeting and had also declined a previous briefing meeting with the Panel and Council.”. The Panel’s decision to refuse the application was unanimous.

On March 14th, 2024, the Land Environment Court of NSW held a Conciliation Conference onsite at 2 Tessa Street.  The legal counsels of the two parties, Mike & Shan Pty Ltd as Trustee for the Wu and Kho Family Trust and  Willoughby City Council and the relevant technical experts for both parties were in attendance for the public portion of the hearing.  The local community was given an opportunity to address the commissioner of the court.  The local community reiterated their concerns once again directly to the commissioner – the speakers largely reflected the concerns lodged during the public comment period for the DA.

The second half of the Conciliation Conference was held behind closed doors.  The parties were unable to reach an agreement during the Conciliation Conference.  The Land and Environment Court has scheduled a full hearing for October 14th – 18th, 2024.  The first day of the hearing will be held onsite at 2 Tessa Street before continuing at Court for the remainder of the hearing.