Several of our members have written to us to share their deep disappointment about the decision taken by Council at its meeting on Monday 21 March 2022 to adopt Plans of Management that contained many elements of an unadopted draft Property Strategy, in spite of written assurances by the Acting GM in 2021 and the recent verbal assurance from the Mayor, that the draft Property Strategy was still being revised and would not be brought to the 21 March meeting.
 

 
The community’s objection to demolition and re-development at Hunters Hill Village has been clearly expressed and documented, yet the adopted Plan of Management for Figtree Park/Gladesville Road Community Centre Reserve lays the foundation for exactly that.  (See HHT JOURNAL December 2020).
 

The Trust welcomes the possibility of restoring The Priory and finding a reliable means of funding the restoration and ensuring future maintenance.
 
We are particularly impressed by the Historical Summary included in the Conservation Management Plan which acknowledges the major state and local heritage importance of this highly significant building and its setting.  This gives the community some confidence that the proposed alterations will be implemented with due regard to their overall impact on the site.
 
However the Trust does hold concerns that the current proposal, seating over 400 people, would be an over-development of the site, in essence becoming a Function Centre (intended for mass bookings) rather than a restaurant (individual bookings).  Indeed, Council’s confidence in the proponent rests on their expertise with function centres elsewhere in Sydney.
 
Operating on such a large scale the proposal would inevitably create undue stress on the surrounding streets, the immediate environment and neighbours.  In particular the Trust is concerned at the increased scale of the cafe portion of the development which has grown from a modest offering to a large capacity venue, impacting the setting, trees and curtilage of the Priory.
 
The increase in the scale of the development at this location and justification given for such a large overall development rests on the assumptions of the Financial Viability report, which has not been made public.  The delay before profitability predicted by this report does not seem to justify the investment required.
 
See our full submission here: HHT submission re The Priory

While renowned for its significant stock of fine nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings, Hunters Hill is also home to some modernist gems from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.  With many of these more modestly sized, yet excellent buildings coming under threat from unsympathetic additions or demolition – notably the recently demolished 34 Barons Crescent – it’s time to consider the recognition that the more outstanding local examples of this style of architecture might warrant.
 

8 Ellesmere Avenue Architect Frank Kolos 1959 (Ross Heathcote, (c) Sydney Living Museums)

To start a conversation on the topic of “Hunters Hill Modern” the Trust is preparing an inventory of mid-century houses and buildings.  If you know of a building you consider might meet this criteria, we would welcome your input!  Email us at huntershilltrust@gmail.com
 

33 Bonnefin Road Hunters Hill Architect Sir Roy Grounds 1954

Happy new year and we wish you a healthy and safe 2022!
 
We’re looking forward to the challenges of this new year and in particular we’re busy reviewing the three Draft Plans of Management (PoMs) for Crown Reserves, as listed below, which you may understandably have missed as they were released on 4 November the day before Council’s caretaker period commenced!  They can be viewed on Council’s website:

• Henley Precinct Open Space (including Gladesville Reserve)
• Figtree Park and Gladesville Community Centre Reserves
• Small Crown Reserves

On your behalf, we have been examining these proposals. With regard to the Figtree Park and Gladesville Community Centre Reserves PoM, although there is proven overwhelming support for retaining the croquet club in situ, we are concerned about disturbing inclusions in Council’s draft which if not corrected, will adversely affect the future of Hunters Hill village.
 
We are therefore requesting that Council’s General Manager withdraw the Figtree Park PoM from community consultation for further revision.
 
As we already pointed out to Council in July 2021, the first release of the Figtree Park PoM was misleading as it conflated the management of the Reserves with the re-development of the properties along Gladesville Road. The Acting General Manager’s reply at the time stated:
 
“I can assure you there is no intention to imbed the Draft Community Infrastructure Plan/Property Strategy into the Plans of Management for Figtree Park and Gladesville Community Reserve as detailed above, no such changes can occur without the exhibition of revised documents. All comments recorded during the consultation period will be included in the summary of feedback but as detailed earlier, only those items which are permissible under the Figtree Reserve Plan of Management will [be] considered.”
 
In spite of the above assurance, we now find that the current Plan released in October 2021 is once again strongly influenced by Council’s Draft Property Strategy!
 
Due to community opposition, Council resolved at its meeting on 26 April 2021 that “options and associated financial modelling be investigated” prior to adoption of the Draft Strategy. It is not acceptable that this unaltered and unadopted Draft now informs the intent of a potentially binding PoM. References to the Strategy appear throughout the document including:
 

7.9 Action Plan – Table 14 Objectives and performance targets – 3.2 Infrastructure and Facilities (p74)
“Plan for well-designed buildings and facilities to maximise usage through co-location, shared, flexible and multipurpose design that can accommodate changing needs overtime”.
This is a blanket statement that blatantly conflates the intent of the unadopted Property Strategy with the Figtree Park PoM.

8.2 Potential Future Development (p76)
This whole section which details the proposals in the Draft Property Strategy including the creation of residential, commercial and retail development must be deleted. Council has discussed, but has NOT “provided guidance for potential future development with corresponding intensity of use, at Figtree Park and Gladesville Community Centre reserves as an outcome in the draft Property Strategy”.
The Figtree Park PoM should not be utilised as an enabler for future developer driven goals.

 
Submissions close on 14 January 2022 and we’d ask you to please send a short email stating the concerns as above, to the Acting General Manager at tobinn@huntershill.nsw.gov.au requesting an acknowledgement. Thank you for all that you do. The Trust’s submissions are here:

HHT submission re Figtree Park Plan of Management

HHT submission re Henley precinct Open Space Plan of Management

HHT Submission re Miscellaneous Crown Reserves Plan of Management

Hunters Hill Council has prepared a revised Gladeville Master Plan whose stated aim is to provide an integrated plan for Gladesville Town Centre – but the main intent is to amend Hunters Hill Local Environment Plan 2012 (HHLEP) to enable greater development density!

The commercial zone along Victoria Rd from Junction St to Pittwater Rd is within a heritage conservation area and the Trust is opposed to the relocation or removal of the belatedly heritage listed Schedule 5 item at 10 Cowell Street, which was also sold to the developer but not adequately protected at the time.  The timber cottage can provide a low-key transition from the commercial to the residential zone which should act to inform and shape the redevelopment of the GSV site.  The issues are:

• The form of the Block Studies (referred to as Blocks 1, 2 & 3) used for public exhibition are not sufficiently defined to comprehend the proposed redevelopment for these sections of the Master Plan. The three options outlined for Block 4 (Gladesville Shopping Centre/Key site) are called Concept Plans and are all relying on amendment to the HHLEP to build to greater heights and accommodate much larger numbers of units – up to 19 storeys in height!

• The history of selling off Council land, now described as Block 4, in 2012 – without consultation with the community and adequate planning controls to guarantee public benefit – has left a legacy of mistrust.  Council amended the LEP to increase Floor Space Ratio (FSR) of 2.3 to 2.7. This allows greater bulk and permits building height of 34 metres – 180 residential units up to 8-10 storeys.  See the Trust’s submission here HHT Submission for Gladesville Master Plan

• Council’s proposed further amendment from the existing FSR* 2.7 to 3.1 would permit greater density and height and obviously greater profit to the land owner.  But it would disadvantage local residents, shoppers and visitors.  Towers up to 19 storeys in height on the Shopping Village site situated along the Gladesville ridgeline will over-shadow surrounding residential streets, remove privacy from households and disrupt local amenity.

• The draft Master Plan shows no improvement from the 2013 Development Application which attempted to trade off increased open space and ‘design excellence’ for greater density and imposition on the local community.  That DA was comprehensively rejected and fortunately later refused by the NSW Planning Department.

• Traffic and parking are increasingly problematic and both need far more rigorous assessment and solutions presented within the Master Plan.  It is not clear from the Block Studies and the Concept Plan how traffic flow and density will be managed as a result of such major development.

Council has targeted Gladesville Town Centre, particularly the GSV site, to provide for the NSW government’s housing projections for Hunters Hill LGA in its Local Housing Strategy.  Opposition to this was expressed during the Strategy’s consultation process as it places unreasonable and inequitable over-development impacts on Gladesville residents and will be detrimental to heritage values.

The community has not been assisted in this review process by having no models and relevant visuals presented, such as at the main Shopping Centre.  It is hard to visualise how a ‘town square’ could be accommodated within either of the three options for Block 4, given the shared right-of-way requirements for vehicles and future increased pedestrian users of the site.

It is also vital that the existing car park at 3A Cowell Street remains as such within the LEP and continues to provide much-needed public car parking to serve residents’ needs as well as keeping small local businesses viable.

Hunters Hill and City of Ryde Councils need to liaise on creating a more cohesive approach to development within the precinct. Consideration must also be given to greater linkage across Victoria Road by strategically connecting Trim Place to the core of the retail and Post Office shopping strip.  There is an opportunity to apply sustainability principles to urban renewal at Gladesville’s Town Centre and take account of climate change mitigation and improved liveability.

The HHLEP must not be amended to allow any increase to the existing FSR of 2.7.

 *FSR refers to Floor Space Ratio, the measure for bulk. More FSR means more flats (and/or commercial space, but most of this development is about building more flats).

Under the current Property Strategy – this would be the result if the proposed ‘Village Hub’ at Figtree Park went ahead – the low rise leafy entrance to the village replaced by a multi-storey development.  A large development of this nature including residential, offices, commercial space, retail etc would inevitably encroach on precious green space and add even more traffic and congestion to the area.

Now that the Property Strategy is to be subject to further community engagement before it is formally accepted (see our recent flyer Do you know what’s happening in Hunters Hill) we await Council’s needs analysis, fully-costed business case and justification for taking this drastic course of action.

GOING…..

GOING…….

GONE…….?

Our thanks go to Mayor Ross Williams and Councillors Sanderson, Krassoi and McLaughlin who voted at Council’s meeting on 26th April for Agenda Item 4.3 Property Strategy (formerly the Draft Community Infrastructure Plan) to be subject to further community engagement before it is formally accepted.

A huge thank you also to those Trust members who took the trouble to write in with their own submissions or to attend the meeting to address Council.  There were some powerful and erudite presentations and we commend those residents who spoke so passionately.

Here are the outcomes of the main Agenda items:

4.1 Draft Hunters Hill Local Housing Strategy (LHS) Outcome of Public Exhibition

Despite the best efforts of Councillor Sanderson to achieve better outcomes, the LHS was adopted without substantial amendment, with the support of Councillors Miles, Collins, Krassoi and McLaughlin. Regrettably, there was little regard for the 37 submissions received, nearly 90% of which expressed concern about the impact on heritage and the environment and strong opposition to development over and above State targets.

4.2 Boronia Park sports and community facility

The Heritage Grandstand will not be restored even though the State Government Grant was given for that specific purpose plus the upgrade of sporting facilities.  The Rugby Club has been awarded two government grants totaling $1.5m but will make only a capital ‘contribution’ to the construction costs of the building and pay a peppercorn rent for 20 years.  In a recent communication, Council had assured the community that ratepayers’ money would not be used to assist with the Rugby Club facility, but now it has committed $100,000 ‘in-kind’.

Speakers were opposed to the new facility on the basis of size, location, Licence Conditions of Use, an inadequate business case, impact on local residents and the loss of three magnificent Eucalypts.  View a recent letter to the TWT from one of our committee members here https://huntershilltrust.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/TWT-Letter-24-February-2021.pdf

Concept drawings entitled ‘Development application May 2021’ (included as pages 242 – 252 of the business paper) can be found at Council’s website.

The business case fails to mention payment for use of the facility by sports other than Rugby who will have 85% of the allocated time. This assumes the remaining 15% of use will provide sufficient income to make the project viable, but still leaves a net annual maintenance cost to ratepayers of $37,740 pa.  How is this equitable or prudent?

In spite of these issues, the business case for the facility was ‘received and noted’ by Council, and the proposed licence terms were approved by Hunters Hill Rugby Union Football Club.

4.3 Draft Community Infrastructure Plan (now renamed Property Strategy)

4.4 Gladesville Reserve Playing Field

This field is used for competitive sport and the natural surface is highly valued by the local community for casual use and family picnics.  Soccer club members are strongly in favour of replacing the turf with a synthetic playing surface which would allow more intensive usage. However this would exclude its use for cricket, dog walking and other passive pursuits. The proposal was opposed on environmental grounds with current evidence of damaging chemical run off into waterways, excessive heat off the surface in summer and the danger of ‘carpet’ burns when players fall.

After much community input for and against, Council decided to defer a decision on using the $2 million grant, delivered by our local MP in March 2019. We anticipate the matter will return for the 17 May meeting.

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