122–128 Hewlett Street

The Department has issued its assessment requirements

On 5 June 2026 the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure issued the Secretary's Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs), the rules the developer's Environmental Impact Statement must satisfy. The covering letter goes further than the standard template. It directs that:

• the proposed height and floor space ratio “should be reconsidered”;
• the assessment must consider “the desired future character of the Bronte headland precinct” and the precedent the development may set for height and density; and
• “given the lower height limits surrounding the subject site, suitable strategic merit must be provided to demonstrate the public benefit of the development.”

It also required the design to go to a State Design Review Panel convened by Government Architect NSW before lodgement.

This is a requirement to justify, not a cap

The SEARs do not limit the height. They place the onus on the developer to make the case. Whether that requirement has any bite depends on what the EIS actually contains, and on what the community and Council put on the record.

The design review advice is not public

The State Design Review Panel review required by the covering letter took place in July–August 2026, with Waverley Council represented. The panel's advice is not public. Under the Government Architect's guidelines for these reviews, the developer must lodge a design review report with its application, showing how the design has responded to the panel's advice or why it has not, and that report is published while the plans are on exhibition.

The proposal has changed shape

The dwelling yield has come down, and the design is not final.

• The developer's published material describes 9 storeys and approximately 85 apartments.
• In its own application to the Department in May 2026 it declared 100 dwellings and an estimated development cost of $125.5 million.
• Its community presentation of September 2026 says the design “has not been finalised”, and gives “the maximum anticipated RL 76”, a level above sea level. Measured from the level of the Hewlett Street frontage given in the 2022 application for this site, that is about 37 metres above the street. The height limit on the site today is 9.5 metres.

The affordable housing commitment is not what it was

In its application to the Department in May 2026, Fortis declared 10% affordable housing and nine affordable apartments. Its community material does not mention that commitment. Its presentation of September 2026 states a “commitment to 5% affordable housing in line with our EOI”, and also that the final affordable housing component “is currently being determined”. It gives no number of apartments.

The affordable apartments are to be managed by a community housing provider for 15 years, after which they revert to the market.

The EIS has not yet been lodged

• The developer is preparing its Environmental Impact Statement. Lodgement is expected late 2026 or early 2027, not confirmed.
• The developer has nine months from the issue of the SEARs to lodge, placing the outer deadline at 5 March 2027. That deadline can be extended if the developer asks for one.
• Once the Department has checked that the plans are complete, which takes about two weeks, it puts them on exhibition, and you'll have 14 days to make a submission. They could fall in the weeks before Christmas, or run across the summer holidays: 20 December to 10 January doesn't count, so the clock stops and restarts.

The developer's consultation has closed

Fortis's pre-lodgement community engagement, including a survey and two webinars, closed on 2 October 2026. The developer has said that the feedback, and how it was considered, will be summarised in an Engagement Outcomes Report, lodged with its application and made available during the exhibition. BCA's own survey closed on the same day.