🔵 Ketamine, darts and heritage

HEARD THIS WEEK👂

🏘️ If a developer can break the rules, why can’t we? Roseville residents’ high-rise beef

Ku-ring-gai homeowners constrained by strict heritage rules have been left feeling bewildered after a nine-storey apartment building on a neighbouring block was approved, while they must continue to abide by the same restrictions.

What happened: For some North Shore residents, minor home modifications can be a complicated process. Those living in heritage protected areas of Roseville, for example, can have a development application for a new garage door or solar panel installation rejected by council.

While these rules are something anyone buying in a heritage area are made aware of, they have resulted in a strange reality along Lord Street in Roseville, where a developer has been allowed to build a high-rise apartment complex, while neighbouring residents are rejected for minor modifications.

One local homeowner told the Lorikeet that neighbours have had modifications, including a raised garage roof, pushed back by council. They said when renovating their house, they needed council approval on specific shades of paint.

The strict rules on modifications and renovations are due to the fact Lord Street falls within a Heritage Conservation Area (HCA), which severely limits modification to existing houses.

• While a heritage listing protects an individual site or building, an HCA covers a larger area, and can even span whole suburbs, such as in Hunter’s Hill, Castlecrag and Haberfield.

How did it happen: The apartment blocks going up along Roseville Avenue were approved as a State Significant Development under the Transport Oriented Development scheme.

• Ku-ring-gai Council was ultimately able to circumvent this scheme by putting forward its own alternative plan, promising the same amount of housing but concentrating it closer to Lindfield and Gordon.

The Roseville Avenue development, however, was lodged before this alternative plan was in place.

What now: With the apartment complex approved and the developer preparing for construction, Ku-ring-gai Council told the Lorikeet home owners in surrounding streets will need to follow the same heritage rules.

The development proposal attracted more than 800 objections, and many focused on the impact on the suburb’s heritage status.

However, Sydney YIMBY — a group advocating for increased housing across Australian cities — criticised the concept of protecting whole areas or suburbs.

A 2024 NSW Productivity Commission report into housing affordability found HCAs were a major obstacle in building more properties in Sydney, and were driving up prices for buyers and renters across the city.

Read the full story below.

🐎 107kg of ketamine found on the lower North Shore

A police raid in Artarmon has led to the seizure of 107kg of ketamine — a dissociative anaesthetic with hallucinogenic effects — and the arrest of two UK nationals.

What happened: In late June, detectives from North Shore Police Area Command attended a unit on Hampden Road, following an investigation into alleged drug supply in the area.

Police allege that at the unit, rented out for a short-term stay, they found 2kg of ketamine, scales and gloves. Three days later, a search warrant was executed at a North Sydney hotel, where two UK nationals — a 30-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman — were arrested and taken to Chatswood Police Station.

In the hotel room, police allegedly seized a number of mobile phones and more than $2,000 in cash. Detectives then searched a vehicle, which they allege was rented out by the 30-year-old man, in the hotel's carpark.

In the boot of that car, they allegedly found about 105kg of ketamine stuffed into shopping bags.

Ketamine is a general anaesthetic used by doctors and veterinarians, often as a tranquilliser for horses. It is also used as a recreational drug.

Read the full story below.

🚤 In Lane Cove, the days of dinghy dumping are done

At Woodford Bay, what little shoreline exists is crowded by dinghies, kayaks and canoes piled up upon each other. While some of these vessels have been kept in good nick, others are in a state of disrepair, abandoned, disintegrating on the foreshore.

It’s not a problem exclusive to this bay. You’ll find similar watercraft junkyards across Lane Cove at Greenwich Baths, Burns Bay Reserve and Tambourine Bay.

While the neighbouring council of North Sydney has been fining boat owners for improper storage since 2018, Lane Cove Council still operates on a laissez faire style policy, allowing boats to be stored on public land, free of charge and without any rules.

But now the council has made the call to clean up its foreshores, develop a registration system and install boat racks and lockers.

What happened: Previously, Lane Cove Council had no formal boat storage policy. While dinghy racks are provided in two locations — Burns Bay Reserve and Greenwich Baths — they are often full.

In December, council decided this free-for-all was no longer viable. Councillors claimed improper storage in sensitive bushland was causing environmental damage and that foreshore access for the boatless was being impeded. They resolved to develop a fee system in line with neighbouring councils.

How does it work: The final version of that policy was adopted on Thursday evening. Council plans to clean up the east shoreline of Longueville — Woodford Bay, Dunois Reserve and Griffith Park — before tidying up foreshores in Riverview and Greenwich. 

A council spokesperson told the Lorikeet boat owners would be given time to register their vessel or move it to private storage.

Read the full story below.

🚬 Hornsby tobacconist fined more than $1 million for selling cheap cigs, vapes

After defying a NSW Health order to shut its doors, a Hornsby tobacconist has been fined $1.18 million. 

What happened: In November, Hornsby Tobacconist on Station Street was ordered by NSW Health to close after it was found to be one of the hundreds of stores in Sydney selling illegal cigarettes. 

A raid on the store by NSW Health saw the seizure of around 155 cartons of illegal cigarettes, 6kg of loose leaf tobacco (chop chop), 195 nicotine pouches and 817 vaping goods.

But according to NSW Health, the store continued to trade after being ordered to close. The state agency took the tobacconist to court in May for selling tobacco without a licence, and possession and sale of illicit tobacco, non-tobacco smoking products and vaping goods.

Major prosecution: It is one of the first major fines handed down to a tobacconist since new laws targeting the sale of discount tobacco were introduced by the Minns government in November. 

NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said the prosecution was significant because “the shop ignored closure orders and continued to trade”, and “was located in a busy commercial area frequented by commuters and children”.

“There’s currently 16 more prosecutions before the courts and many more NSW Health are currently working on”.

Read the full story below.

LOOKING NATIONALLY 👀

🍦 Seventy trampolines? 🍦

The 2013 Paddle Pop Lick-A-Prize competition advertised it had 150 Springfree Trampolines to give away. Ultimately, were there 150 winners? Good question.

Watch Archie Milligan’s rundown below: