Preserving Our Heritage since 1968

The Hunters Hill Trust

The Hunters Hill Trust

Preserving Our Heritage since 1968

Gladesville Shopping Village: who gets to define ‘design excellence’ for this monster?

NSW Planning and Environment has set out the conditions that the developers must meet before Hunters Hill’s Local Environment Plan can be changed to allow their massive three tower development at Gladesville Shopping Village (GSV).  It includes:

  • relocation of public open space
  • revised traffic impact assessments
  • overshadowing of Trim Place and 3-7 Cowell Street
  • relocation of the heritage property at 10 Cowell Street to a site owned by Council
  • consistency with the Greater Sydney Commission’s Draft North District Plan.

The Gateway Determination states that “if the development exhibits design excellence” the floor space ratio can be increased to 3.4:1 which would allow the developers to pack even more units onto the site.

But who will determine whether the development has ‘design excellence’ and what are the criteria for excellence?

2017-03-26T13:48:50+11:00March 21, 2017|

Gladesville high rise towers

overhsadowAs expected, the Joint Regional Planning Panel, which included Sue Hoopmann and Greg Patch appointed by Hunters Hill Council, unanimously voted to approve the plan to amend the Hunters Hill Local Environment Plan so that the GSV towers can be bigger and pack more units onto the site.

  • increase the building height up to 58m
  • increase the floor space ratio to 3.4:1

The developers can now go to the next phase:  the ‘Gateway determination’.  The JRRP set some conditions which are shown here.  Hunters Hill Council will be involved in assessing the details.  A report will be presented at the next Council meeting  on 28 November 2016.

2017-03-21T16:01:46+11:00November 18, 2016|

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.

who-is-in-chargeOn 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.

no to over developmentThis 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.

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

Gladesville Shopping Village: green light for sky high development

gsv-october-2016NSW 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.

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

Council and the Trust: an ongoing saga

Councillor Meredith Sheil has made a long comment online regarding The Trust’s open letter to Council following the finalisation of the sale of publicly owned property to the developer of the site.  Click here for the full text of the Open Letter.

Councillor Sheil should not be surprised by The Trust’s attitude towards Council’s role in the redevelopment of the GSV site.  Our view is long standing and has been canvassed on a number of occasions.

In our submission of 7 November 2013 objecting to the original Moch Pty Ltd proposal for the GSV site, which was subsequently withdrawn we argued that:

It is an overdevelopment of the site.

  1. The revised DCP, which sets the planning controls, is flawed and misleading.
  2. It will have an adverse impact on the character and amenity of the surrounding residential and commercial areas.
  3. It will exacerbate existing parking and traffic problems.
  4. It creates a poorly designed gated community physically separated from the rest of the area and fails to provide a safe and healthy environment for its occupants.
  5. It involves the demolition of a building of considerable heritage significance, which was on land previously owned by Council.
  6. The proposed GSVD redevelopment is a cheap and very ordinary proposition that is driven by commercial profit and pragmatism.
  7. The Council, as a stakeholder in the proposal, has failed to properly represent the community by taking a leadership role in its development

(The items in bold relate specifically to Hunters Hill Council’s role in the development.)

Click here for the full text of The Trust’s 2013 submission objecting to the proposal.

A flawed Development Control Plan

In summary we argued that a major reason for the overdevelopment of the site is because Council accepted the revisions to the LEP and DCP in the Newbold Review of 2009.  The revised DCP increased the density and height allowed on the site on the basis that the previous controls would not deliver financially-feasible redevelopment” of the site.  The Trust argued: “ this clearly puts the developer’s financial interest ahead of the community’s interest and the maintenance of the amenity of the surrounding area”.

The demolition of 10 Cowell St

(more…)

2017-09-03T11:52:23+10:00March 13, 2016|
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