Why would you knock down a $6 million ‘dream home’? To build something even dreamier, presumably – that’s what singer and The Voice ‘coach’ Ronan Keating and his wife, Storm are planning to do.

Meanwhile, the perfect place to hide from the world when you are suddenly single, a 30-room former theological college is for sale (maybe a bargain, if you have faith in the market) and the discovery of a snackfood fossil from the 90s has generated calls for the return of the Magnum Ego.

That’s all in this week’s quintessence of quirk for Leftfield Communications.

Free Reads

Domain

Ronan Keating’s $6.3m Sydney ‘treehouse’ to be demolished
Irish singer Ronan Keating and his Australian wife Storm plan to demolish their $6.3 million Tamarama home.

Battery king lists $33m mansion after bitter council battle
Janus Electric co-founder Bevan Dooley and his wife Dr Amy Sacco are selling their “contentious” Mosman mansion just years after winning approval to build it.

Empty patch of dirt hits the market for staggering $1.95m
An empty patch of dirt in Sydney has hit the market with a $1.95 million price tag.

‘We got buried’: Aussie couple forced to abandon their $970k dream farm
Builder Mark King and his wife Veronica bought their dream farm for $970,000 in 2021, hoping to turn it into a luxury rural retreat.

From rugby nights to rising prices: Weston’s next chapter
Weston was the place to be in the mid-1980s, when university students carpooled to the Royals Rugby Club to catch bands like The Divinyls, in a fond look at the Canberra suburb’s next chapter as prices rise.

ABC Online

Biodiversity offset now protects habitat in same region as development
The NSW government has struck biodiversity agreements covering more than 15,000 hectares in Central West NSW to offset 1200 hectares affected by the region’s new power lines.

New Western Sydney International Airport opens after 80 years of debate and protests
For 20-year-old transport enthusiast Matthew Hayes, the first passenger flight from the new Western Sydney International Airport on Sunday is a dream come true, as the airport opens after some 80 years of debate and protest over a second Sydney gateway.

Realestate.com.au

Where newly single Aussies can move for under $4000
A break-up can hit your heart and your bank account, and if you have to start over, Tasmania is the cheapest place in Australia to do it.

How Sir David Attenborough built $45m home and TV fortune
A television executive once told a young David Attenborough his teeth were too big for the camera.

Theological college with $20m guide ‘could be a house’
Agents selling a theological college with more than 30 bedrooms and a $20 million guide say homebuyers are among the interested parties.

Lysterfield couple says mansion’s garden would cost $1m to recreate
A Lysterfield mansion whose owner says its garden alone would cost $1 million to recreate has passed in at auction, with negotiations continuing.

Hawks’ premiership star James Morrissey sells Glen Huntly home
Former Hawthorn premiership player James “The Freak” Morrissey and his partner Nancy have sold their Glen Huntly family home for $1.78 million.

John McGrath reveals 10 Queensland suburbs tipped to buck housing downturn
Ten Queensland property hotspots have been tipped to buck the housing downturn, with John McGrath identifying where buyers could do well in 2027.

Real Commercial

Store owner finds forgotten part of 90s Aussie nostalgia
A small-town general store has turned up a blast from the past that could herald the return of a favourite Aussie snack.

Urban Developer – Partly Free

Airport Opens as Western Sydney’s $59bn Growth Challenge Deepens
On the eve of the first flights from Western Sydney Airport, a coalition of seven councils is warning NSW risks losing a once-in-a-generation growth opportunity unless infrastructure catches up.

Pay-walled

The Australian Financial Review

‘Here to be part of history’: After 40 years, Sydney gets new airport
Anthony Albanese has declared the new Western Sydney International airport the nation’s best, praising the former Coalition government for keeping the Badgerys Creek site in public hands.

NextDC faces broader community backlash over Melbourne growth plans
NextDC’s data centre troubles are widening beyond its West Footscray project, with residents near other Melbourne sites planning to protest and lobby candidates ahead of the Victorian election.

Former ANZ boss Shayne Elliott lists Toorak home with $11.9m hopes
The four-bedroom Toorak home of former ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott and his wife Nagla Khattab has hit the market with a $10.9 million to $11.9 million guide.

The Australian

Sydney’s famous restaurant family offloads its 140-year-old property
One of the nation’s most esteemed restaurant families, the Doyles, have listed their Watsons Bay holdings on Sydney Harbour with hopes of up to $70 million.

The Sydney Morning Herald

Public backlash sparks backflip on Sydney train timetables
An unpopular Sydney train timetable shake-up that would have affected hundreds of thousands of commuters has been scrapped after public backlash.

The Age

People feared there would be blood on the streets, but this idea could transform Melbourne
In a city of cobbled streets and cafe culture, Amsterdam’s former night mayor Mirik Milan had a radical idea that critics warned would bring “blood on the streets”: a 24-hour city.

The Brisbane Times

Bleijie’s dig at Trump as he announces replacement for leaky lagoon
South Bank’s lagoon will be replaced as part of a wider redevelopment of the Brisbane parklands, with Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie quipping that the state would take no construction cues from US President Donald Trump.

WA Today

‘Still operating’: Calls for action over Perth builder linked to $6m trail of destruction
Three months after Consumer Protection warned about a Perth house-relocation company alleged to have left about 40 people a combined $6 million out of pocket, questions are being raised about why it is still operating.

The Adelaide Advertiser

Residents group launches ‘fighting fund’ to challenge Adelaide Park Lands MotoGP in court
An Adelaide residents’ association has launched a “legal fighting fund” to pursue court action against the state government’s $96 million MotoGP parklands circuit.

The Newcastle Herald

‘The greatest economic challenge our society faces’: thousands of jobs unlocked on former mine sites
More than 7000 jobs are set to flow from new planning controls for former mine sites in the Hunter.

The Illawarra Mercury

Wilton is set to become a small city, what can the Illawarra do to capitalise on it?
Wilton, perched above the Illawarra, is set to become the size of a small city, raising the question of how the region can capitalise.