Ku-ring-gai Council wins prestigious planning award

Published on 20 November 2025

The Council was awarded the top award in the 2025 PIA NSW Awards for Planning Excellence last night for its alternative planning scheme to the state government’s transport-oriented development (TOD) policy.

The Planning Institute of Australia is the peak body for planning in Australia and holds the awards annually. The Council beat 14 other entrants in the Strategic Planning award category for its planning scheme.

Faced with mandated rezoning around the railway stations of Gordon, Killara Lindfield and Roseville, the Council developed an alternative to the TOD policy that meets government targets for new housing while protecting environmental, heritage and landscape values.

The alternative scheme applied seven clear planning principles — from avoiding environmentally sensitive land to supporting local centre revitalisation — as a foundation for decision-making. A key component of the Council’s winning entry was community engagement, with surveys, workshops and submissions all contributing to the formation of the scheme.

The scheme is expected to deliver a 93% improvement in managing transitions between existing buildings and new development, an 80% reduction in impacts on heritage conservation areas, over 70% less tree canopy loss and far greater potential for revitalisation of local retail centres.

Mayor Christine Kay said the Council’s alternative planning scheme was the result of ‘heavily involving our community in developing the alternative policy.’

“We recently gained the state government’s approval of our scheme and while opinions may differ, winning this award demonstrates that the Council’s alternative to the TOD is based on very sound planning principles,

“Ultimately this scheme can help protect Ku-ring-gai’s built heritage and trees while providing more housing for our growing population.”

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Media enquiries: media@krg.nsw.gov.au or 9424 0000