30-32 Bayswater Street
Details of DA2026/0170 can be found here
Status: Public submissions
Next Milestone: Submissions close on Thu 17th September
Two single-storey cottages at 30 and 32 Bayswater Street could be knocked down and replaced with a 6-storey apartment building — 20 units, 22.76 metres tall, with two levels of basement parking.
The applicant’s own report admits the design breaks several planning rules.
What that means in plain terms
▪ Too tall. The building is 22.76 metres — above the 22-metre limit that applies to this type of site. The extra height comes from a rooftop terrace awning, not from any constraint of the land.
▪ No small or accessible units. Council rules require at least 20% of units to be studio or one-bedroom homes, to give people choice. This proposal has none — zero out of 20 units. Every apartment is a larger, higher-value two-bedroom (x13), three-bedroom (x6) or four-bedroom (x1) unit.
▪ Crammed against the side boundary. The gap to the side boundary is meant to be 5 metres. This building provides about 3 metres — nearly 40% less space than the rule requires, reducing privacy and breathing room for neighbours.
▪ Too close to the street. Part of the building sits closer to Bayswater Street than the setback line followed by every other property nearby.
▪ Skimps on garden space. Required garden area at the front and back of the site is cut by third to a half, depending on the boundary.
▪ Digs right up to next door. In places, excavation for the basement comes within half a metre of the boundary with neighbouring homes — well inside the normal safety buffer, raising real questions about the stability of the cottages next door during construction.
▪ Blocks your neighbours’ sun. The applicant’s own shadow diagrams show the new building will overshadow the backyards and side windows of the properties at 26 and 28 Bayswater Street from midday onwards — and admits a better design “will unlikely mitigate” it.
▪ Removes most of the trees. Nine of the eleven trees on the site are proposed to be cut down and replaced with young replacement plantings, stripping mature greenery from the street.
▪ Doesn’t match the street. Every building immediately next to this site is a single or two-storey cottage or small dual-occupancy. A six-storey tower next to them is a dramatic change in scale, not a gentle fit.
▪ Not affordable housing. The application leans on national housing shortage arguments, yet every one of the 20 units is a standard market apartment. There is no affordable housing component.
▪ Traffic numbers look too low. The applicant’s traffic report predicts only 3–4 extra peak-hour car trips for a site going from 2 homes to 20 (with 48 bedrooms) — worth independent scrutiny.
▪ Ignores the neighbours on views. The applicant’s view-loss assessment only looks at distant water views, and doesn’t properly consider the outlook and amenity loss for the homes right next door.
▪ Bin day could become a mess. No chute — residents carry rubbish to a basement bin room, then bins are wheeled out to the kerb. Going from 2 households to 20 means far more bins and movement, with no detail on how collection days, truck access, or footpath obstruction will be managed.
▪ It all adds up. Taken together, this building breaks the height rule, breaks the housing-diversity rule, and falls well short of side setback, front setback, landscaping and excavation-buffer requirements — each issue explained away on its own, rather than considered together.
What you can do
Development applications like this one can be opposed through a formal written objection (called a “submission”) lodged with the City of Canada Bay during the public exhibition period.
HOW TO HAVE YOUR SAY
1. Email a written submission to Council during the public exhibition period. Send…
To: submissions@canadabay.nsw.gov.au
Cc: council@canadabay.nsw.gov.au
drdagroup2025@gmail.com
2. Quote the site address (30–32 Bayswater Street, Drummoyne) and the DA number DA2026/0170 in your email.
3. Pick three or more of the issues above that concern you most and write them in your own words.
Submission deadline is Thursday 17 September 2026 so please make submission by this date.
The more residents who put their concerns on record, in their own words, the more weight the Council must give to the community’s view when it makes a decision.
Click here to download a pdf copy of the above