Ku-ring-gai mayor Sam Ngai said he was “shocked and disappointed” by the sudden withdrawal of funding for the Lindfield Village Hub urban renewal project,while a local MP called the decision a “kick in the guts”.
Plans to redevelop a car park near Lindfield train station into more than 130 homes are in jeopardy after the Minns government reneged on a promise of $9.8 million for the project.Ku-ring-gai Council
Ngai said the council was unable to announce a start date for the redevelopment “as a direct result of this decision” in a letter to Planning Minister Paul Scully.
“In fact,the financial viability of the Hub project is now in doubt since there is a $10 million deficit in the project with no clear way of covering it,” the letter said.
In 2021 the state government agreed to provide the council with $9.8 million for commuter car parking spaces as part of the Hub project.
But the mayor’s demand for funding to be restored is likely to be ignored,with the Minns government saying the council caused extensive delays that led to the withdrawal of funding.
A Transport for NSW spokesman said funding was withdrawn “due to the extensive delays from council to meet agreed deadlines” set out in a deed signed in 2021.
An artist impression of the Lindfield Village Hub development.Ku-ring-gai Council
“Transport has decided to terminate the deed and will investigate reallocating the funds to other more immediate projects that align with current government priorities,” he said.
However,the council believes the funding agreement has not been validly terminated.
Ku-ring-gai mayor Sam Ngai.Ku-ring-gai Council
Lindfield Village Hub is an urban renewal project that sought to turn a council-owned car park near Lindfield train station into homes,shops,commuter car parking,a new library and community centre,childcare facility,park and plaza.
Ngai said the “sudden withdrawal” of funding by Transport for NSW was communicated to the council “literally hours” before councillors were going to choose a builder for the project.
“Council was not given any indication that the funding would be withdrawn and in good faith continued to spend money to progress the project,” he told this masthead.
Ngai said Transport bureaucrats were advised last April that the original dates for the project,which were indicative and reliant on the outcome of the tendering process,would need to change.
“The terms of the grant specifically allowed for future adjustments to align with the construction contract,” he said.
The stoush over funding of the Hub project comes as the Minns government announced including Lindfield,to speed up the construction of tens of thousands of new homes.
Davidson Liberal MP Matt Cross last month told NSW parliament that the loss of funding was a “kick in the guts for every resident of Lindfield”.
Cross said the loss of funding appeared to be at odds with efforts to boost housing supply and increase density in areas well serviced by public transport.
“You cannot increase housing when you are going to cut infrastructure,” he said.
An online petition created by Cross calls on the state government to restore funding for the commuter parking.
A flyer distributed by community group Support Lindfield calls the decision a “body blow” that will make lawyers and consultants rich as the state government and council “make claims and counterclaims over breach of contract”.
“The project will likely be deemed unviable and abandoned,” the flyer said.
Support Lindfield president Linda McDonald said the state government’s backflip over funding did not make sense given the housing crisis.
“$9.8 million is not a huge amount of infrastructure money for the state government,but it is at the local level,” she said. “And the timing of the decision is a bit suspect.”