One of Sydney’s most well-heeled suburbs could get a new train station, which would unlock a plan to build thousands of new homes.
Woollahra, in the city’s Eastern Suburbs has a partially completed “ghost” station which was abandoned in the 1970s.
But a reopening could allow 25,000 new homes to be built after a plan for developments further west were given the red light, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
It could form an extra stop on the Eastern Suburbs line, which goes to Bondi Junction.
No alternative has been announced.
The paper said the government is giving serious consideration to Woollahra among a swath of options to deliver new homes around the city.
It says under the plan being considered by the state government, the area around the station would be rezoned, and housing towers built above, according to government sources.
The median price of a three bed house there is $3.75m, according to Domain.
A two bed unit costs a median of $1.4m.
The paper said report commissioned by Premier Chris Minns and delivered by the Centre for International Economics found Woollahra is the most feasible Sydney council area for increases in high- and mid-density housing developments.
A state government spokesperson told the Herald it wasn’t making any announcements.
“We’re not going to play whack-a-mole with potential projects to deliver more housing for Sydney,” they said.
“We introduced the boldest set of planning reforms in the state’s history, and we will continue to reform the system to deliver the much-needed homes for young people and families.”
The government’s target is 377,000 new homes by 2029.
Woollahra station was never finished because of costs, and locals also opposed it.
Plans to revive it alongside new housing were also shelved in the 1990s.
9News has contacted the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure for comment.
