🔵 Castlecrag: The Two Towers
Plus: solar and strata, the life aquatic and weaponised nostalgia
Huw Bradshaw
April 29, 2026
⏱️ The 99th edition of our newsletter is a four-minute read.
G’day everyone,
We’ve written a short explainer about one of the North Shore’s more controversial developments this week: the Castlecrag Quadrangle, which has just gone on public exhibition.
It might not cover all the particulars of Walter Burley Griffin and his architectural flourishes, but it gives a brief overview of what exactly is happening and why it is causing so much unrest.
You can read it here.
🗞️ Anyway, let’s get into the news for today.
HEARD THIS WEEK👂
🏢☀️ Solar and strata: how do you escape the bureaucratic nightmare?
When Waverton local Ed Yan began looking into getting solar for his apartment complex, he found the process “very overwhelming”.
Even with the allure of government grants, the logistics of dividing rooftop space between owners, organising strata meetings and finding reputable installers can make the process a tough gig on top of a day job.
Untapped potential: While more than a third of NSW homes have rooftop solar, NSW Government figures indicate only 3.5 percent of apartments have a solar connection.
According to data from the 2021 census, more than three quarters of North Sydney residents live in a flat or apartment. Toward the more suburban upper North Shore, that figure drops significantly, but still makes up more than a third of occupied homes.
So how do we make it easier for apartment owners to get hooked up to solar?
Read the full story below.
🐡 What would a marine reserve at Balmoral look like?
A local conservationist group is proposing a ban on fishing across Balmoral and Chinamans Beach.
We spoke to Duncan Adams, the leader of the group, about how that would actually work. Watch the full interview below.
🛒 Coles promises Neutral Bay a new plaza to sweeten redevelopment deal
More in development news this week, this time in Neutral Bay.
The suburb’s town centre is set for a major revamp, with 83 apartments on top of Coles and the Grosvenor Lane carpark converted to a grassy plaza.
What happened: At the meeting this month, North Sydney councillors voted unanimously to approve a planning amendment allowing the property development wing of Coles Group to build an eight-storey mixed-use development on Grosvenor Street, Neutral Bay.
The site is currently home to Neutral Bay’s second Coles supermarket, the other in Big Bear Village shopping centre.
The planning proposal comes with an offer from Coles to “design and construct a new public plaza” on the council-owned parking lot.
This would be facilitated through a Voluntary Planning Agreement, a legal agreement between councils and developers to fund public infrastructure around major developments.
Read the full story below.
LOOKING NATIONALLY 👀
🇦🇺 How 90s Australia videos are being used to manipulate you
You might have seen these AI generated videos of Australia in the 90s on your feed.
They all have a pretty similar backdrop of white, suburban middle class Australia.
These videos are incredibly nostalgic, but is this nostalgia being weaponised?
Head of Psychology at the University of Queensland, Professor Jolanda Jetten, explains exactly how manufactured memories are being used to manipulate the public.
That’ll be all from me today.
As always, if you have a hot tip, an idea for a story or think there’s something I should be covering, hit reply to this email or reach out at [email protected].
Cheers,
Huw