195 Church St, 65-79 Macquarie St, 38 and 45 Hunter St, Parramatta

St John's Anglican Church site

Exhibition of a draft Planning Proposal, draft Development Control Plan (DCP) and draft Planning Agreement


In April and May 2022, the City of Parramatta Council publicly exhibited a draft site-specific Planning Proposal, draft site-specific DCP and draft Planning Agreement for land at 195 Church Street, 65-79 Macquarie Street, 38 and 45 Hunter Street, Parramatta (known as the St John's Anglican Church site)to enable redevelopment on the site for two buildings - a commercial tower and mixed-use building.

  • The draft site-specific DCP proposed guidelines onheritage, public domain, built form, vehicle access and car parking, flood management, and environmental sustainability for two development optionsin relation to St John’s Parish Church Hall (a local heritage item). The controls for Option A relate to removal and replacement of the Church Hall, and the controls for Option B relate to partial retention of the original c1910 Church Hall structure.
  • The draft site-specific PP proposedcontrols to change the zoningof some of land, amend the permissible density controls on the site and identify a portion of land on the Land Reservation Acquisition Map together with some other amendments.
  • The draft Planning Agreementdetailed the public benefitsthe Church will be required to provide if they are able to secure approval to demolish the Church Hall. The public benefits include public access to the Church grounds which the Church has also agreed to upgrade, and provision of vehicle and pedestrian access arrangements that will make moving around this part of the City easier and safer.

PLEASE NOTE:Public Exhibition of the draft Planning Agreement commenced on Tuesday 12 April 2022. The draft site specific Planning Proposal and draft Development Control Plan commenced exhibition on Tuesday 29 March 2022. Submissions were welcomed until5pm on Friday 13 May 2022.


Changes to Planning Controls


The Planning Proposal seeks to amend the Parramatta Local Environmental Plan 2011 (PLEP 2011) by:

  • Amend the land zoning map from part B4 - Mixed Use and SP1 – Special Activities (Place of Public Worship) to part B3 - Commercial Core, part B4 Mixed Use and part SP1 Special Activities (Place of Public Worship).
  • Amend the floor space ratio (FSR) mapped controls as follows:
    • Increase the FSR on the parts of the site proposed to be zoned B3 Commercial Core and B4 – Mixed Use from 3:1 to 10:1 (11.5:1 including the existing 15% design excellence bonus),
    • Apply a no FSR control on land zoned SP1 Place of Worship.
  • Retains the FSR sliding scale provisions within Parramatta LEP 2011 to the site.
  • Amend the building height mapped controls (HOB) as follows:
    • Increase the HOB control for a portion of the proposed B3 – Commercial Core land from 18 and 24 metres to 211m (RL) (243m (RL) including the existing 15% design excellence bonus).
    • Decrease the HOB control for a portion of the proposed B3 – Commercial Core land from 18 to 12 metres.
    • Increase the HOB control for the B4 – Mixed Use land from 36 metres to 211m (RL) (243m (RL) including the existing 15% design excellence bonus).
    • Apply a no building height control on land zoned SP1 Place of Worship.
  • Amends the Special Provisions map to permit the application of Clause 7.6 Airspace operations.
  • Amends the Land Reservation Acquisition Map to facilitate the creation of a 6-metre-wide laneway to provide future vehicle access to 41, 43 and 45 Hunter Street and 181 Church Street, Parramatta. Noting that 41 and 43 Hunter Street have only been included in the Planning Proposal for the purposes of identifying the 6m wide laneway land on the Land Reservation Acquisition Map and that no other changes will be made to the planning controls that apply to these two sites.
  • Includes an additional site-specific clause to require consistency with the solar access requirements for Parramatta Square, including the requirement for compensatory area.
  • Includes an additional site-specific clause to require a DCP to be prepared that provides for the critical matters to be satisfied including the outcome for St John’s Parish Hall.

Council is not authorised as the local plan-making authority as confirmed in the Gateway Determination.


Endorsed proposal


The City of Parramatta Council endorsed at its meeting on 14 November 2022, (and in effect reaffirmed this resolution on 28 November 2022 after it considered a Rescission Motion), a site specific Planning Proposal, site-specific DCP and Planning Agreement for St John’s Cathedral Site at 195 Church Street, 65-79 Macquarie Street and 38 and 41-45 Hunter Street, Parramatta.

The Council resolution and reports (including a supplementary late report) to Council can be viewed online here:

Agendas and Minutes : City of Parramatta (nsw.gov.au)
(refer to item 13.1 in the Business Paper for Council’s meeting of 14 November 2022)

The site-specific DCP as exhibited will come into effect when the associated Planning Agreement as exhibited is finalised; and as soon as practicable following finalisation of the amendment to the Parramatta Local Environmental Plan 2011 and publishing on the NSW Legislation website.

Council’s Parramatta DCP 2011 can be found online at:Development control plans | City of Parramatta (nsw.gov.au)

Thank you to everyone who provided a submission.