Investigations to start this weekend into ground conditions at the site of a planned station at Woollahra in Sydney’s east will determine the scale of the project and whether towers can be built above the railway like those at Bondi Junction, Waterloo or in the central city.
More than four months after Premier Chris Minns revived plans for a station at Woollahra, the state’s transport department will carry out geotechnical investigations of the ground conditions, as well as assessments of existing structures at the site. The work will take place during a scheduled shutdown of the T4 eastern suburbs line for track repairs this weekend.
The site on the eastern suburbs line at Woollahra will undergo geotechnical assessments this weekend.Credit: Wolter Peeters
It signals the ramping up of an extensive list of work that will be required to meet an ambitious timeframe for construction to start on the station next year and be completed in 2029. The government has estimated the station will cost $200 million to build.
The assessment of ground conditions will give planners a greater sense of the extent of design options for the station, and whether they could include towers above the railway. Apartment towers above the station would help the government more easily meet its target for up to 10,000 homes to be built in Woollahra and nearby Edgecliff.
So-called over-station developments comprising office or apartment towers have or are being built atop some stations on Sydney’s expanding metro rail network, including Waterloo, Crows Nest and Martin Place. A number of stations on the city’s heavy rail network including Bondi Junction, Edgecliff and Chatswood also feature developments above the railway.
The site at Woollahra has sat idle since the 1970s when a station was proposed there for the eastern suburbs rail line but did not progress due to cost blowouts and strong opposition from the local community.
NSW ministers John Graham, Paul Scully and Rose Jackson with Premier Chris Minns at the Woollahra station site in August.Credit: Sitthixay Ditthavong
The government plans a rezoning of Woollahra and Edgecliff stations, similar to those at Burwood North and along Parramatta Road, to clear the way for up to 10,000 homes to be built. The rezoning is expected to take about two years, and plans are due to be put on public exhibition in the second half of this year.
Transport Minister John Graham said the government was in the early stages of the rezoning of Woollahra and Edgecliff stations, and any decisions on an over-station development would come once it was further progressed.
