![\"Christopher](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/d166559c39aab93d7e03fe1f476d98daf6d910d6.png\")
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August 13, 2026 \u2014 7:30pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n A north shore private school wants to buy an entire public road so it can expand its senior campus.<\/p>\n North Sydney Council initially rebuffed overtures from Redlands School to purchase Monford Place in Cremorne back in 2021.<\/p>\n The council is more receptive to the idea after the cost of the North Sydney pool rebuild jumped from $58 million to more than $122 million and it was constrained from raising rates<\/a> by as much as it hoped to meet costs.<\/p>\n The council voted on Monday night to sell the cul-de-sac for \u201cno less\u201d than the independent valuation price, which has not been disclosed.<\/p>\n The council last year investigated selling a portion Edward Street to Shore School in North Sydney.<\/p>\n It exposes long-running tension between the council and private schools<\/a> that use parks for play time yet do not pay rates; North Sydney Council estimates it is missing out on more than $1 million in revenue from schools.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a very short piece of cul-de-sac. It is entirely surrounded by the school. Its main use is parking for the teachers, that\u2019s why the council was open to exploring the sale,\u201d North Sydney Mayor Zoe Baker said.<\/p>\n Not everyone sees it that way. Dominik Przywara, the owner of Strings Embassy, which provides lessons for and rents out string instruments, said his customers used the street\u2019s 18 parking spaces.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a big problem here of parking and density \u2026 this street is very, very busy.\u201d<\/p>\n He did not know about the plan to sell the street but said because Military Road is a clearway after 3pm, the 18 car parks in the street were valued by him and his customers who came for lessons.<\/p>\n \u201cThe council is charging businesses a lot of money, and small businesses should be supported here, especially in this area \u2026 we have a huge rotation of businesses. A lot of businesses are bankrupt.\u201d<\/p>\n Cleaning business owner Lais Ferraz parked in the street every day and said it was useful for her staff.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s terrible. This area is super busy with the commercial side, with restaurants and everything,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the council, it\u2019s money for them. But for the people running a business, living here, it\u2019s not good.\u201d<\/p>\n Neutral Bay resident Glen Curyer, chair of its local precinct committee, said if the council was selling a street used by residents it must disclose the price.<\/p>\n \u201cThe street is quite beneficial in the evening even though people from Redlands were parking there during the day,\u201d he said, noting its proximity to a nearby restaurant strip.<\/p>\n He said the fact a school was buying an entire street stoked long-held resentment with how North Sydney area was a focal point for \u201cnew and established private schools\u201d.<\/p>\n Editor’s pick \u201cWe\u2019re near transport, you can ship the students here if you need to, you can drop them off on the way to work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He said school students, supervised by teachers, commandeered local parks and used them as playgrounds which effectively meant residents, who pay rates, could not use them during the day.<\/p>\n \u201cThat gets up everyone\u2019s nose,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The potential sell-off of roads comes a year after Baker wrote to local schools<\/a> asking them to voluntarily pay rates.<\/p>\n They politely declined, citing legislation that states schools must not operate for profit.<\/p>\n In a statement, Redlands said it was committed to ongoing consultation with council and neighbours, noting Monford Place is a no-through lane surrounded by school-owned properties.<\/p>\n \u201cWith future generations in mind, we are working towards a vision that would create opportunities to further enrich learning, wellbeing and co-curricular experiences at Redlands as well as contributing positively to our wider community.\u201d<\/p>\n A Shore spokeswoman said with respect to Edward Street, it had previously explored opportunities.<\/p>\n \u201cAny future activity would be subject to appropriate planning, consultation and regulatory processes. Shore is not currently in a position to comment on any future plans,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Cleaning](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2da7fed8ec782215853cca172363a51efe1d5072.jpeg\")
Cleaning business owner Lais Ferraz says selling Monford Place to the school would make life harder.Sitthixay Ditthavong<\/p>\n![\"Dominik](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6482313d9c27e9accd218005c8467176a84a6efa.jpeg\")
Dominik Przywara, who runs the String Embassy on Military Road.Sitthixay Ditthavong<\/p>\n![\"Glen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/8ecaaff2f77bb0803137b74ad3f8b2b0b015a44f.jpeg\")
Glen Curyer said the council should come clean with how much it planned to sell the street for.Sitthixay Ditthavong<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/e9ab86e84954752dcfbf0509fa60b6099ff61362.jpeg\")
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