Reach for the Skies: New 25-storey tower approved for Blacktown CBD

A 25-storey tower containing 200 apartments and a five-level basement carpark has been approved for construction in the Blacktown CBD after going through a Land and Environment Court hearing. 

The residential tower will be built on First Avenue, with a mix of one-to-three bedroom units as well as ground-level retail and commercial spaces. 

While the initial development proposal was submitted to council in August 2021, council’s initial refusal saw the matter end up in court, where a compromise was achieved. Council had reportedly rejected the initial proposals for design reasons, with incidents such as the Opal Tower in December 2018 making councils far more cautious about rushing to approve similar developments.

The news also comes in the same week State Premier Chris Minns has announced a Building Commission will be established to oversee licensing and regulation in the industry. The Premier has also made comments this week that Sydney will need to build upward to address the ongoing housing crisis, with high density residential apartment blocks needed to promptly to support families in NSW. 

“We have to go up. Sydney can’t grow by adding another street to the western fringe every other week … [because] you have to stretch social infrastructure over a bigger and bigger plane," the Premier said on Monday.

“I think the best way to ensure we protect open space is to have buildings that go up and don’t encroach on much loved parkland.”

The Premier pointed out that - thanks to a mixture of heightened standards by councils and the consistent collapse of building companies - apartment approvals in Sydney were at their lowest since 2014, which was untenable in the midst of a housing availability crisis.

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