Facing a demand for development, Mosman Council will make its own alternative housing plan

Seeking to avoid a head-on battle with the state government, the North Shore council will put forward an alternative housing plan, hoping to appease both residents and the planning department.

Huw Bradshaw
November 11, 2025

For months, Mosman council has been in a tough spot, caught between residents' outrage at increased development and a state planning department insistent on reaching its housing goals.

What happened: Lacking the authority and resources to challenge the decisions of its superior — the NSW state government — Mosman council has chosen an alternative path: moving to develop a plan for the area that accommodates both state housing goals and residential concerns over development.

While it is not certain that the plan developed by Mosman will be accepted, there is precedent for the move in Ku-ring-gai.
Earlier this year, Ku-ring-gai council reached an agreement with the state where it would present its own plan for housing goals.

What is the “Swiss cheese effect”, and why is Ku-ring-gai Council trying to stop it?

From Roseville to Gordon, another 24,000 dwellings are required in the next 15 years. But where will they go?

The NIMBYs are back in town: Mosman Matters — the group representing residents against increased developments — attended the most recent council meeting in numbers, headed by figurehead Judith Pearson, the woman behind a $500,000 legal battle against the state government.

She’s spending $500,000 to block new developments in Mosman. The council won’t be joining in.

The legal challenge of North Shore local Judith Pearson has come to represent a larger group of Mosmanites opposed to new housing developments.

Mosman Matters’ rhetoric has largely revolved around the development of “luxury penthouses” that would likely be unaffordable to most Australians.
The most recent example of these developments is a six-storey apartment complex proposed for 65 Muston St, complete with a gym, indoor pool, and golf simulator.

Stat check: While simple in premise — how do you solve housing affordability by building unaffordable houses? — this argument is not always supported by the facts. A Grattan Institute report released only days ago finds that “irrespective of its cost, each additional dwelling adds to total supply, which ultimately improves affordability for all.”

Affordable housing: Speaking on behalf of Mosman Matters was a younger face, Seaforth local Jethro Mulder, who emphasised the group's advocacy for more affordable housing in the area.

“When the nurses that work here, the teachers that work here, the young people that live here, can afford to live here, we have a community that thrives”, Mulder told the chamber.

“Let’s work on giving the state government solutions, and not problems", Mulder said. “This is a solution, or the first step to a solution”.

Criticism: The policy was not without its critics. Former councillor Martin Skipper criticised the council’s lack of haste. “The preparation of a draft policy with community consultation goes on for months”, he said.

“We need something that can be implemented now.”