Cash-strapped North Sydney council has unanimously passed a motion to investigate selling a public street to the private Sydney Church of England Grammar school, known as Shore.
Shore wants the council to sell part of Edward Street south of Lord Street in North Sydney. The school says it wants to improve traffic through a bottleneck area regularly used for drop-off and pick-up.
The plan would move the current “traffic snail” within the school grounds and allow Shore to create its own ring road with a turning circle, thereby increasing student safety, the school argues.
The North Sydney mayor, Zoë Baker, said Monday night’s motion authorised the council’s chief executive to investigate the proposal and enter into preliminary discussions with Shore.
It was directly linked to the council’s financial woes surrounding the blown-out cost of the North Sydney Olympic Pool, Baker said. Councillors wanted to hike residential rates by 87% over two years, but that plan was rejected in May.
“It’s pretty well known that North Sydney council is in a fairly fragile financial situation,” Baker said, adding her council inherited the pool redevelopment in 2022 as a “difficult and overblown” project.
“Council is in a really difficult position, seeking to clean up and fix those finances so that we leave them better than we inherited them. So we are having to explore every opportunity.”
The council said in its budget last month it would seek to deliver $6m in savings or new revenue over the next financial year – including a review of its property portfolio.
A spokesperson for Shore read a statement on behalf of the school’s principal, John Collier, at Monday’s council meeting. They said parents “agitated” by the proposal were “actually arguing against their own interests”.
The school noted the dead-end road was adjacent to school grounds and did not include residential homes.
“While local residents would lose perhaps four parking spots in Edward Street, the school would probably reduce demand for those spots by enhanced spaces within the school,” Collier said in the statement.
“Shore is happy to work with council to establish a reasonable purchase price based on professional valuations.”
Shore will be required to lodge a bond of $20,000 with the council to cover the costs associated with the investigation – which will include a land valuation.
Baker amended Monday’s motion to also reopen talks regarding a potential land swap as part of the deal. The swap would see the creation of a small, public pocket park on the corner of Mount and Edward streets that the council has been seeking for some time.
The mayor said she was aware the loss of any public land, particularly in an area with sky-high land values, would likely be permanent. But she described a swap – and new park – as potentially a “really good public benefit”.
“Once they’re sold, they’re gone forever,” Baker said of public lands. “We’re here as custodians and shepherds for the next generation. Disposing or selling an asset leaves the next generation without a resource.”
Shore declined to comment on the proposed land swap.
Baker expected discussions to take between six and 12 months but stressed there would be significant community consultation. Nothing would happen “overnight”, the mayor said on Tuesday.
– Additional reporting Jordyn Beazley
