Overview
The Explorer Street site is in Eveleigh, about 2 km south of Sydney CBD within the City of Sydney local government area. The site is roughly 2.3 ha and currently consists of 46 townhouses on Explorer Street, Station Street and Aurora Place that are owned by NSW Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC). The site includes the South Sydney Rotary Park.
Up to 400 new homes, including a mix of social and affordable housing and private dwellings.
A range of apartments that consider the needs of the existing and future population and meet higher sustainability and accessibility standards.
Potential for upgrades to South Sydney Rotary Park including new recreational spaces, accessible footpaths, landscaping and tree plantings.
Upgrades to existing streets including Explorer Street and Aurora Place with new kerbs, footpaths, lighting and street trees with off-street basement parking for residents.
Opportunities for collaboration and co-designing with locally connected Aboriginal people to inform future building design and landscape outcomes.
A range of ecologically sustainable development features that support the NSW Government's commitment for net zero emissions.
Explorer Street rezoning proposal
The Explorer Street rezoning proposal was on public exhibition from 13 October to 1 December 2023 for community feedback.
We have reviewed submissions and summarised feedback into a What we heard report (PDF, 1 MB) that sets out key issues raised during exhibition.
The proposal included an Explanation of Intended Effect and draft Design Guide setting out the proposed planning controls, along with supporting technical studies.
View the draft rezoning proposal documents on the NSW Planning Portal.
The exhibited proposal sought to deliver:
- up to 400 new homes including approximately 120 new social homes and 80 new affordable homes
- opportunity for enhanced use of South Sydney Rotary Park with updated outdoor spaces for recreation and quiet enjoyment
- improved new pedestrian connections to the surrounding street network
- recognition of the significance of the area to Aboriginal people including cultural values to underpin future design and a commitment to 20% of affordable housing to be delivered as Aboriginal affordable housing.
View the information pack (PDF, 544 KB) to find out more information.
The proposal seeks to amend the Sydney Local Environment Plan 2012 to enable development. The proposed controls are set out in the Explanation of Intended Effects and include:
- apply R1 Residential and RE1 Public Recreation zones
- allow an increase in maximum building height limits between 3 m and RL60.7 m (13 storeys)
- apply a floor space ratio of 2.94:1 allowing development of up to 400 apartments
- require 20% of floor space be used for the purposes of affordable housing and 30% of floor space for social housing.
Information sessions
The webinar recording and questions are now available:
What has happened
We consulted with the NSW Land and Housing Corporation and the City of Sydney to investigate the potential renewal and redevelopment of the site, building on work previously done by LAHC. We have incorporated previous stakeholder and community feedback into the current proposal. We have also undertaken engagement with key community organisations including with Aboriginal people and Aboriginal-led organisations and undertaken a preliminary Social Impact Assessment.
What’s happening next
The What we heard report (PDF, 1 MB) provides a summary of what we heard during public exhibition. We will now consider this feedback during the assessment and finalisation of the rezoning.
We will continue to work with the City of Sydney and LAHC to respond to the issues raised in submissions.
Once the assessment is complete, the department will make a recommendation to the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces regarding potential rezoning of the site.