At Katoomba, a fight has been slowly intensifying between residents, the council and a developer for more than a year over a piece of unused land.
The issue? Nine proposed buildings up to five storeys on a site located along the aptly named Narrow Neck Road.
The state significant development application, which falls under the Housing Delivery Authority pathway, has racked up 738 submissions objecting to the plan, many frustrated Facebook posts from the Blue Mountains City Council mayor and near silence from developer, VDM Prime.
Under the proposal, seven residential buildings with 218 dwellings would be built, along with one mixed-use and one restaurant building, which would also feature an education facility. The 1.6 hectare site is located within the Katoomba Golf Course Housing Precinct and would neighbour Yarrabee Katoomba, a recently completed development that features 24 three-bedroom duplex residences.
Chief among the concerns from those opposed to the $92 million development include the scale of the project and the potential bushfire risk.
“The site is located in a high bushfire-risk area with limited evacuation capacity via Narrow Neck Road,” a submission from Nastia Gladushchenko read.
“Increasing residential density at this location creates unacceptable life-safety risk for both existing and future residents during emergency events.”
Since May 2025, the council has been encouraging residents to provide feedback on the proposal, putting out three separate media releases and providing a 95-page submission objecting to the development. Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill also hasn’t been shy in voicing his thoughts about the development, which he previously labelled in a Facebook post as “the worst we have ever seen”.
Greenhill has now called on NSW Minister for Planning Paul Scully to request the independent planning commission to start a public hearing into the proposal following the backlash from the community.
“I find it impossible to believe that any reasonable authority would approve this in this location. Personally, I would be shocked if it was finally approved,” he told the Herald.
But VDM Prime disagrees: the development application for the project said the site is not on bushfire-prone land and would provide broader housing choice in a high amenity mixed-use environment.
Not much is known about private developer VDM Prime and its director, Ukranian born Yuri Rudi. An ASIC report on the company revealed that as of April, the Narrow Neck Road site has been listed as its principal place of business.
The environmental impact statement for the development said that leaving the site as it currently is would result in the land remaining vacant and underutilised, and would represent a “missed opportunity”.
“Adopting the ‘do nothing’ approach would prevent the site from realising its potential to deliver a mixed-use development with inclusion of affordable housing,” it said.
VDM Prime was contacted for comment.
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