Council’s Development Proposal
On 9th April, Council held a ‘Library Consultation’ meeting inviting community feedback on the functional spaces required for a library building. The proposal is to demolish the Croquet Clubhouse, the Respite Care cottage, the Community Hall and Community Services building (pictured below) between 40-46 Gladesville Road at Hunters Hill Village, and replace them with a two storey development that includes a library and some of the functions of the existing buildings. Neither traffic congestion nor parking were covered in the presentation.
The consultant architects have stated that the building is being designed to comply with the current LEP and, as Hunters Hill Village was not included in the recent planning reforms introduced by the NSW State Government, we will be looking for Council’s reassurance that the current LEP restrictions on height and density in this location will be maintained.
Questions and concerns were raised about the justification for this major new project as Council appears to have gone straight to a Consultation for a ‘Building Brief’ before standard preliminary steps such as the Business Case and Needs Assessment, Financial Risk or Cost/Benefit Analysis, have been made available to the community.
It is important to remember that a similar multi-storey development with residential units in this location was proposed as part of Council’s Property Strategy in 2020, and the community’s objections were clearly expressed at that time. The Strategy was not supported at Council’s meeting of 26 April 2021 with a motion that ‘options and associated financial modelling be investigated’ prior to its adoption (See HHT JOURNAL December 2020 and our webpost of March 28, 2022).
This would be a massive undertaking by Council, for which the cost is likely to exceed the available capital and recurrent grant funds. One estimate of the build cost (based on floor area estimates) was approx $12 million for a 1250 square metre building, but it is not known if this covers demolition or potential underground parking. Residents need to understand Council’s assessment of the estimated build cost and the likely ongoing recurrent costs to the community of maintaining this development.
We note the priority areas expressed by the community in the Community Plan 2022-2032 rated the need for Library services (not a Library building) in last place behind Managing financial sustainability:
- Footpaths
- Roads
- Traffic management
- Managing development and the development application process
- Managing parks, playgrounds and open spaces. Innovation in sustainability.
- Managing financial sustainability
- Library services
We have written to the Acting General Manager, Mayor and Councillors to express our concerns and to request they seek further community input regarding the wider implications of this project. For instance what would the community’s views be, if:
- Having a library building, means terminating the current agreement with Lane Cove for use of their very good and extensive facilities?
- In order to deliver this facility, height limits were increased to three, four or more storeys along Gladesville Road.
- There was a strong likelihood of additional traffic adding to the congestion in this already popular zone.
- There was a possibility that Council may need to take on a large amount of debt, rely on a developer or increase its recurrent deficit for staffing the Library?
We are concerned that Council is working towards producing a ‘draft Building Brief and associated designs’ before the community has been given the rationale, potential scale or ongoing costs of this development. The Trust supports the principles of open and transparent communication enshrined in Council’s recently endorsed Community Engagement Strategy and this process does not appear to be consistent with these principles.