Gladesville Shopping Village: monster has ‘merit’?

The Pre-Gateway review says that the plan to massively increase the bulk and height of the 5 towers at Gladesville Shopping Village has ‘merit‘. The proposal is now set to go to the Joint Regional Planning Panel on November 3rd. A decision is expected by the end of November. If their proposal is accepted, the plans then go to public exhibition, subject to fulfilling the conditions placed on them at Gateway.

On November 21st a whole new planning system will begin operating. The District Panels (part of the Greater Sydney Commission) will replace the Joint Regional Planning Panels.

This enormous development in Gladesville is being assessed under the old planning assessment system, just weeks before the Northern District Draft Plan is released for comment.

Until recently, the Gladesville Shopping Village site belonged to the people of Hunters Hill municipality.

Contact Hunters Hill Council’s Senior Strategic Planner Philippa Hayes on 9879 9442 (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) if you have any questions.

admin2016-10-28T22:42:42+11:00October 27, 2016|

Gladesville Shopping Village: green light for sky high development

gsv-october-2016 NSW Dept of Planning & Environment’s Pre-Gateway Review says the massive development application for Gladesville Shopping Village has ‘strategic merit’ and can proceed to the Gateway stage of approval at the Sydney East Joint Regional Planning Panel even though it massively exceeds the controls set down in Hunters Hill’s Local Environment Plan:

250 apartments in 5 huge towers up to 16 storeys above a huge podium
58 meter high tower (current maximum is 34 m)
3.4 : 1 Floor Space Ratio (current maximum FSR is 2.7 : 1)
Heritage listed 10 Cowell Street can be either re-located or parts of the building (its pressed metal ceilings) incorporated into the new structure.

The Pre-Gateway Review wants the proposal updated to:

confirm the total heights (their plan may be even higher than 58m)
update traffic plans and car-parking impacts
‘re-visit the visual impact on surrounding local streets with a view to reducing the scale of its highest towers and the overshadowing impacts’
review outdated supporting heritage impact, visual impact and traffic impact reports.

Until recently, this site was owned by the people of Hunters Hill.

admin2016-10-23T22:50:22+11:00October 22, 2016|

from the cover of House and Garden to ….

34 Barons Cres Hunters Hill

Lane Cove River

The house at 34 Barons Crescent Hunters Hill was designed by Architect and Artist Lindsay Sever. It featured on the cover of House and Garden magazine in 1954. Current owners plan to demolish the house, subdivide and build 2 dwellings on the land.

This site links to the remnant bushland that follows the Lane Cove River and contains the Great North Walk. While the house is not heritage listed nor in a designated Conservation Area, it is in a location that has a particular significance to the character of Hunters Hill. The riparian land is significant for bio-diversity.

Foreshore protection zone

The Trust has urged Council to consider the implications of the DA at CAP (Conservation Advisory Panel). We need a Conservation Area declaration in this important bushland, foreshore area of Hunters Hill. DAs along the foreshore protection zone need to be very closely monitored.

admin2016-10-22T17:32:41+11:00October 20, 2016|

Ausgrid tree action ‘justified’ !

wybalena-road-tree-2 Anthony Roberts, Minister for Energy and Member for Lane Cove and the NSW Department of Industry have justified their destruction of old trees in Hunters Hill as ‘authorised vegetation removal’ in their recent letter to the hunters-hill-trust.

A community committee will review Ausgrid’s guidelines. Contact Ausgrid’s Vegetation & Inspection Manager, Kevin Hamblin on (02) 4399 8172 to convey your view or if you want further information.

admin2016-10-20T18:06:30+11:00October 20, 2016|

Community response to rampant development: GSC

over-development The Total Environment Centre is coordinating input to the Greater Sydney Commission from community groups, including Hunters Hill Trust. 6 areas of common interest and major concern about the rampant development in Sydney have been defined:

Loss of local character
Heritage protection
Loss of biodiversity
Urban tree cover
Waterway health
Loss of open space.

environment-protection-8691205 Experts, community groups and advocates are spelling out what action is needed now for each of these issues. Draft strategies to protect heritage include:

Across Greater Sydney, heritage listed items and Heritage Conservation Areas should be protected from demolition and inappropriate development
District Plans should actively seek to identify, recognize and protect heritage items and Heritage Conservation Areas from demolition and/or inappropriate development
Development objectives should strive to protect and enhance the individual heritage values of localities within the overall area
Development objectives should aim to create and maintain locally distinctive urban characters in new development zones.

The issues and suggested strategies for all 6 concerns are set out in the Summary of the Environment Panel’s Draft Report to GSC.

admin2016-10-20T18:31:25+11:00October 16, 2016|

Greater Sydney Commission … what about heritage?

The Hunters Hill Trust wants the Greater Sydney Commission (GSC) to include heritage and conservation as core values and a central aspect of making great places for people to live. The HHT’s submission to the GSC points to the crisis in heritage and conservation in Sydney.

Hunters Hill is part of the GSC’s Northern District. The Draft District Plan will be released on November 21st at the same time as the Northern District Planning Panel starts its operations. This panel has the power to:

determine regionally significant development applications (generally developments over $20 million)
consider pre-gateway (rezoning) reviews, allow requests for reviews of council decisions or lack of decisions within 90 days.

Who will get a voice at this table?

ask-questions The Greater Sydney Commission Act sets out the rules. Each council nominates their members of the Planning Panel. At least one of these nominees must be a person who has expertise in at least one area of planning, architecture, heritage, the environment, urban design, land economics, traffic and transport, law, engineering or tourism. Where a matter is considered, the council nominated representatives for the particular council where that matter is located will sit on the panel.

We need to watch this space, ask questions, make comments, insist on high standards.

admin2016-10-16T16:43:20+11:00October 14, 2016|

Stop the Chop: update

Some good news

10/50 code action in Hunters Hill

Lane Cove image: bugs.bio.usyd.ed.au

Lane Cove Council has had a big win for trees in their area. Under the 10/50 Code the owners of nearly 90% of Lane Cove properties could cut down trees within 10 metres of their house without council permission. Huge numbers of trees that presented no bushfire risk have been cut down. Hunters Hill and other council areas have similar problems. Lane Cove Council’s bushfire manager worked closely with the Rural Fire Service so now 90% of Lane Cove bushland reserves are safe from the ravages of the 10/50 Code.

How can we stop further loss of parks, bushland and tree canopies?

State government and councils are responsible for a staggering list of recent losses and CURRENT threats:

New crown land laws will make it easier to sell off or lease open space
Tree mutilation by Ausgrid
West Connex taking inner west parkland and chainsawing trees
Southeast light rail route destroying mature fig trees on Anzac Pde and Alison Rd. Another 700 trees are at risk
Proposed land clearing laws will allow more bulldozing of remnant urban bushland
16 parks to be sold by Bankstown Council
Bushland reserves to be cleared in Manly and Hurstville …

Go to the Total Environment Centre petition to say ENOUGH – we care about this.

admin2016-10-20T18:03:16+11:00October 13, 2016|

Sydney Planning Panels start November 21st

gsc-district-plans-201509 Big changes are underway at the Greater Sydney Commission (GSC). Hunters Hill is part of the GSC’s vast Northern District which also includes Hornsby, Ku-ring-gai, Lane Cove, Northern Beaches, Mosman, North Sydney, Ryde and Willoughby councils. There are 6 Districts in Greater Sydney.

The Northern District Planning Panel will start its operations on November 21st, chaired by Dr Deborah Dearing. This panel has the power to:

determine regionally significant development applications (generally developments over $20 million)
consider pre-gateway (rezoning) reviews, allow requests for reviews of council decisions or lack of decisions within 90 days.

The Sydney Planning Panels have to take their District Plan into consideration when reviewing Local Environmental Plans and considering rezoning review requests. The Draft District Plan for the Northern District is currently being prepared and is due for release on November 21.

Submissions from the general community are being collated now. Send your ideas, priorities and considered advice to http://www.greater.sydney/Discuss.

admin2016-10-14T17:29:56+11:00October 12, 2016|

For your diary: the Christmas party

Avon

Hunters Hill Trust members and their guests are invited to our 2016 Christmas party. Trust members Barbara and Nick Dorsch have kindly agreed to host our annual event at Avon, their historic home in Woolwich. Avon was built in 1890 on land that was once owned by Wilberforce S. Gale. The house was left to St John’s Church in 1920 that owned it until 1970.

christmas bells When: Friday 16th December at 6.30pm

Where: 7 Gale Street, Hunters Hill

Cost: $55 per person

RSVP: members@huntershilltrust.org.au

admin2016-10-08T21:07:35+11:00October 7, 2016|

Ausgrid abominations: what happened next

example in Park Rd, BP

After no response from Anthony Roberts, MP for Lane Cove we contacted the media. You may have caught some of the outrage aired on ABC Radio. On 18 September, we attended a community meeting convened by Jo Haylen, MP for Summer Hill and Jamie Parker, MP for Balmain, who were both arguing in the House of Reps for the Minister for Energy to direct Ausgrid to stop lopping trees across the inner west and conservation areas.

Ausgrid was invited to the meeting but did not attend. It was a passionate, crowded meeting and residents from Leichhardt, Balmain, Marrickville, Haberfield and Hunters Hill all detailed examples of the severity of the chopping, incompetence of the contractors, lack of adequate response from Ausgrid and disinterest of the Minister, Anthony Roberts.

A small win: Ausgrid have made a commitment to reduce the ‘second’ trimming (ie trimming for regrowth) to 0.5 metres. Jamie Parker’s press release, Jo Haylen’s press release.

Maureen2016-10-08T16:33:22+11:00October 7, 2016|

Preserving Our Heritage since 1968

The Hunters Hill Trust

The Hunters Hill Trust

Preserving Our Heritage since 1968