Key Facts:
- Developer Conquest plans to build twin 12-14 storey luxury apartment towers, replacing a previously approved 3-5 storey development in Castlecrag
- The new proposal would increase apartment numbers from 38 to 150 units, with only 10 affordable homes, and is located 4km from the nearest train/metro station
- The development threatens the heritage significance of Castlecrag, a suburb uniquely designed by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin
- The Castlecrag Progress Association (CPA) opposes the development as it contradicts the NSW Housing Delivery Authority's objectives for well-located, affordable homes
- The CPA is urging the NSW Planning Department to reject the proposal and calling on state government leaders to visit the site and witness its inappropriateness
21 April 2026
The Castlecrag Progress Association (CPA) strongly opposes developer Conquest's plans for twin, luxury 12 to 14-storey apartment towers at 100 Edinburgh Road - a massive uplift from the already approved and community-backed three to five-storey project it purchased just a year ago. Community members have just 14 days to respond to the plans which were placed on public exhibition today.
The CPA and the local community have demonstrated their support for the construction of an appropriate mixed-use development at 100 Edinburgh Road, consistent with the scale and planning controls already approved by Council. Conquest's supersized, Blues Point Tower-style proposal for 150 apartments is almost four times the scale of the 38-apartment development championed by the site's former owner, the Dr Stanley Quek founded property developer Greencliff.
The Greencliff scheme was the product of years of detailed planning, genuine community consultation, and careful consideration by Willoughby Council and the Sydney North Planning Panel.
The Conquest proposal achieves none of the key outcomes the NSW Government cited in establishing the NSW Housing Delivery Authority, namely, to deliver "well-located homes, close to transport, amenities and services" and to "improve housing affordability across the State". The site is more than four kilometres - or around a 60-minute walk - from the nearest train or metro station, and the proposal includes just 10 affordable units. This raises serious questions about whether the project meaningfully contributes to housing affordability and calls into question the integrity of the Housing Delivery Authority pathway.
Critically, Conquest's proposal threatens the character, heritage, and residential amenity of Castlecrag as a unique and architecturally significant suburb that is celebrated globally. Castlecrag is the only Sydney suburb conceived and master planned by Walter Burley Griffin and his wife Marion Mahony Griffin, who created a bushland suburb integrated with the natural landscape, not imposed on it.
CPA Secretary Tim Donahoo said: "This planning proposal is not a minor variation; it is a wholesale rewrite of what was already agreed with the community without any genuine consultation."
"The fact that it was progressed through the Housing Delivery Authority process despite not aligning with the Government's stated objectives in establishing that body should ring alarm bells for every community in NSW.
"If we allow this globally significant Walter Burley Griffin conversation legacy to be undermined by an opportunistic development and a flawed planning process - in the year of his 150th birthday - it will be lost forever.
"The Castlecrag Progress Association and local community worked with the previous owner, Dr Quek, to secure a DA-approved design that delivered more local housing while remaining sympathetic to Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin's vision for Castlecrag.
"Conquest's proposal violates its stated promise to uphold Dr Quek's vision and disregards its own acknowledgement that Castlecrag is one of Sydney's most architecturally significant suburbs.
"We urge the NSW Planning Department to faithfully apply merit-based planning principles and reject Conquest's proposal.
"We further call on NSW Premier Chris Minns, Planning Minister Paul Scully and Heritage Minister Penny Sharpe to visit Castlecrag to see first-hand how inappropriate this supersized proposal is given the suburb's heritage significance and its isolation from mass transit options."
The CPA has encouraged all community members to make a formal submission during the 14-day exhibition period. Submissions can be made by visiting the following the NSW Government Planning Portal and lodging a submission that outlines their concerns.
About us:
The Castlecrag Progress Association Inc. has been in existence since 1925 and has an unbroken record of service to the residents of Castlecrag. Its objectives are: To do everything possible to promote and further the interests of the district of Castlecrag or other nearby areas; and to conserve the natural and human heritage of Castlecrag for the benefit of future generations. The inaugural meeting of the Progress Association was held on 10 November 1925, when Edgar Herbert was elected president. Walter Burley and Marion Mahony Griffin were active members, with Walter serving on the Executive Committee.
