Court overturns Hornsby refusal, approves 69 units on Forbes Street

The Land and Environment Court of New South Wales upheld an appeal by Turn Oze Pty Ltd on 4 November 2026, granting development consent for a seven-storey, 69-unit residential flat building at 19-23 Forbes Street, Hornsby, under DA/1086/2025. Commissioner Espinosa’s decision overturns a refusal the Sydney North Planning Panel issued on 20 August 2026.

Why it matters

The Panel had refused the application because it was not satisfied that a written request under clause 4.6 of the relevant planning controls demonstrated that compliance with the height and floor space ratio standards was unreasonable or unnecessary, or that there were sufficient environmental planning grounds to vary them. The Court reached the opposite conclusion, accepting the written request and finding the height standard’s objectives were still achieved and that sufficient environmental planning grounds existed to support the variation. The Commissioner also rejected an argument that the building would be “too big and too abrupt” as viewed from the neighbouring R2 low density zone, finding there is no four-storey control. The site is not itself heritage-listed or within a conservation area, but sits near the Pretoria Parade precinct, part of the Hornsby West Side Heritage Conservation Area, to its southwest; that proximity did not defeat the appeal.

For developers running Housing SEPP bonus-height schemes through clause 4.6, the ruling shows a Planning Panel refusal on a written-request justification is not the final word. Where a panel finds a variation request unproven, the same request can still succeed before the Court on its merits, provided the numeric breach is modest, which it was here.

The numbers

The approved building reaches 23.481m, exceeding the 22.75m height standard, derived from the Housing SEPP bonus, by 0.731m, a 3.2% variation. The 69 units are made up of 3 studios, 25 one-bedroom, 35 two-bedroom and 6 three-bedroom apartments, across two levels of basement parking. The development also involves demolition of the existing structures on the site.

What’s next

Consent is now granted for DA/1086/2025, subject to conditions set out in a separate annexure to the judgment that was not available on the decision page itself. The approval follows EG Funds’ 138m, 146-apartment Pennant Hills scheme, also within the Hornsby Shire Council area.