The long-running saga of the old Balmain Leagues Club site is heading to a courtroom, as the battle over its development reignites.
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Leichhardt Council and the site's owner, Rozelle Village, are once again at loggerheads over the scale of development plans for the abandoned plot of land in Victoria Road.
Under its latest proposal, Rozelle Village wants to build apartments and shops across two towers that are 12 and eight storeys high.
The company has significantly reduced its ambitions after its bid to construct 24 and 20-storey towers failed last year due to "unresolvable" traffic and transport issues.
Leichhardt Council, on the other hand, is trying to rezone the site so that towers of only six and eight storeys can be built.
Both parties refuse to budge and are now set to take action to try to get their way.
Rozelle Village director Ian Wright said the company was taking its case to the NSW Land and Environment Court this week, saying the council had taken too long to deal with the development application.
"We've really got to get on with it," Mr Wright said.
"It is a fully compliant development so I really can't see any grounds for the court to object. The council may not like it, but there needs to be something more for them to object."
Leichhardt Council is also set to launch its own appeal to the Department of Planning and Environment, in a bid to have the site rezoned so only a smaller development can be built.
Mayor Darcy Byrne said the site would still be commercially viable at the reduced height but would not cause traffic havoc in Victoria Road.
The redevelopment of the site has been in the pipeline for more than a decade, with four previous proposals for development rejected by the the Joint Regional Planning Panel and the NSW State Planning Assessment Commission.
There is at least one thing the familiar foes agree on: both say they want to see the Wests Tigers return to their spiritual home.
But the clock is ticking.
The Tigers' agreement with Rozelle Village for lease of the site is reliant on a development application being approved by the end of November.
Mr Wright would not say if he would consider extending this timeframe, but was adamant he would not be shouldering the blame for it if the Tigers could not return to Balmain.
"The onus is on the council. We can't approve our own development.
"Everything has to come to an end at some point."
