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1. Wow! Looking forward to the application documents being uploaded so I can see what this 270 unit development application with 2000sqm+ of commercial space will look like.

2. I can’t see the information, is it here somewhere? If the planning authority put the DA on the website 4 days ago, why haven’t they put up the supporting documents?

3. Seriously - another 240 residences in Marrickvileee - on that road? - saturday morning and peak hour traffic will be hell

   Scale it back !

4. No planning information? Is this just another case of developers getting away with what Marrickville residents can't?

   @Michael H: If you look at the planning docs for the developments across the road, you'll note that the traffic analysis explicitly excluded movements between Marrickville and Sydneham roads - it's a splendid way of excluding facts from the planning process. Raising this issue with the authorities got exactly zero response. Welcome to the Gladysverse.

5. Council posts documents about a week after the alert is sent out.
   Makes it difficult

6. Still nothing of this development on council website. I agree this development should not be approved. Marrickville is one of Sydney's many cash cows for developers with no respect for residents (present and future ) quality of life, pollution to the area and all round reduction in amenity.

7. Victoria Rd Traffic is already very troublesome in both Marrickville rd and Enmore rd directions. Commonly jams and all alternate routes in the area are tight residential streets.

8. 270 apartments - the potential for another 600 people. This will impact already congested roads, parking and public transport. I don't mind new developments, people need somewhere to live, but the size of this needs to be scaled back.

9. This is a serious over development which will have a seriously adverse impact on the local area.
   The first issue is that Marrickville cannot support 2350 sq metres of retail space. There are empty shops peppered along Marrickville Rd. Retail needs to be consolidated on Marrickville Rd and supported to develop. To disperse the retail area of Marrickville to Victoria Rd will be destructive to Marrickville and also make the traffic on Victoria Rd very problematic.
   The second issue is the amount of traffic that this oversized development with a minimum of 270 cars would impose on the local area. Sydenham Rd and Victoria Rd are already under significant pressure with traffic stacked up like a car park during peak hours and Saturdays.
   The third issue is that this moves small local industry away from the area. This is unhealthy for Marrickville.
   Finally where are the details on this development.

10. * 270 units would appear to be an overdevelopment of site.
    * No information re FSR & heights of buildings
    * Currently no buildings of this size in close proximity so it follows that FSR & building height code would be broken.
    * Buildings would overshadow tennis courts & park.
    *Under flight path and noise levels could exceed 30 ANEF Need to minimise the number of people living in areas of excessive noise
    * Site currently used as employment land - Marrickville cannot afford to lose any more industrial/employment land - 33 factories have been bulldozed for Sydenham/Bankstown Metro conversion just down the road.
    *Retail area of 2350 squ. metres not appropriate for site. Many empty shops in Marrickville & with expansion of Marrickville Metro more retail not needed.
    *Traffic & parking major problem for this site. Sydenham & Victoria Rds already congested and there is no street parking for residents or retail. Underground parking will not be sufficient for residents and retail.
    Please reject this development application for this site.

11. Fifty-two people have already been killed in crashes in and around Sydney Airport.

    What kind of people would spend money to live with the constant threat of aeroplanes destroying their house and lives.

    I thought home-units were banned under the flight path.

12. This is pretty obscene. Will increase traffic levels on often congested roads, and will ruin the low rise Marrickville enjoys, as spell the death of some of the creative and noise/music creating industries nearby with the inevitable noise complaints from appropriate zoning.

13. 20/03/19 lodgement date noted online in Council e-records and still no documents online as at 04/04/19. Trust the Public Notification deadline will be based on when the documents are available for review?

14. Development Application documents are now available on the Inner West Council website however the transport impact plan and the complete architecturals are missing (though they are listed). The shadowing plan details a 13 (!!!!!) storey building......just dreadful. 100 x 1 bed shoe boxes. 150 2 bdr and a handful of 3bdr apartments. 2000sqm of retail space when Marrickville Road has dozens of empty commercial spaces and the high rise above Marrickville Station also has many tenancies that have been vacant for years! See DA docs now via https://eproperty.marrickville.nsw.gov.au/eServices/P1/PublicNotices/PublicNoticeDetails.aspx?r=MC.P1.WEBGUEST&f=%24P1.ESB.PUBNOT.VIW&rf=MC.ESB.PUBNOTAL.ENQ&ApplicationId=DA201900096

15. Not sure why these developers chose such a congested area for hundreds of apartments. The area has a number of arts and cultural institutions that have night-time events. Will the apartment dwellers complain about the noise all the time, effectively shutting down the cultural institutions that have been there for years? Any new residents of this development should not be able to complain about venues that are already established in the area.

16. This proposal is appalling. It states it will range from 6 to 14 storeys in height. There is absolutely NOTHING if that height in the area. It will be an appalling eyesore.
    The proposed retail space is ridiculous given the number of empty shops already in Marrickville. The proposed retail shops would just sit empty.
    When will the report on the proposals impact on traffic become available. The roads can not cope with the current level of traffic.

17. Unfortunately none of the links on the DA documents work. However, it’s clear to say given the information disclosed around the size of the building, it’s height (13 storeys with a roof top area) and it’s location on a road which is endlessly gridlocked, would appear beyond inappropriate for the area. Add to this a massive downturn in the apartment market, this will clearly not be a quality development. Further, this will set precedent in the area and we will see further construction of inappropriate buildings. Council should not allow this development to proceed at this size. The infrastructure in Marrickville can barely cope with current traffic and congestion. Marrickville should remain low rise and without high density apartment development. I have no issue with new residential, however, it should fit the requirements of the local people, with a quality living standard and not the developers wallet.

18. The document links don't work but reviewing the other comments, we agree with the concerns re traffic congestion. Also, assuming most of the one bedroom units won't have car spaces, we also have concerns about parking. No issue with low rise apartments which fit into the area - but buildings with more than 3-4 storeys just don't fit the area and this needs to be scaled back. We want to retain the current village feel that makes Marrickville such a great place to live - these types of development destroy that.

19. Please reject this development application for this site. It is high time the council does something for the people living in Marrickville. We do not need more apartments.
    - 270 units is an over-development of the site.
    - The apartment will be directly under the flight path, we need to reduce the number of units.
    - We do not need more retail space. There are enough retail spaces on Illawarra Road that are unused.
    - Traffic & parking is already a major problem at Sydenham & Victoria Rds. They are already congested. There is no on-street parking.

    The council has no regard for the people and I am sure they will go ahead with the construction anyway. At least reduce the number of storeys to 3 or 4. We do not need a skyscraper in Marrickville. The Danias timber factory just opposite to this site is also a site for an apartment and if that goes ahead too, Marrickville will be unliveable.

20. This proposal is appalling. It states it will range from 6 to 14 storeys in height. There is absolutely NOTHING if that height in the area. It will be an appalling eyesore.
    The proposed retail space is ridiculous given the number of empty shops already in Marrickville. The proposed retail shops would just sit empty.
    When will the report on the proposals impact on traffic become available. The roads can not cope with the current level of traffic.

21. Only now just a few days before the end closure of comments are the documents able to be downloaded for review
    The shadowing diagram is wildly inaccurate if the think that wicks park will only have several metres of shade form a 14 storey tower this is grossly inaccurate , at 49 meter tall building will throw at least 50m of shadow or more in mid winter with the zenith of the sun, most of wicks park and the trees will be heavily shadowed from May though to July making it cold and unwelcoming , also the Tennis courts will be heavily shadowed.
    There is no justification for 14 storeys other than investor returns, large buildings as such will disrupt local community and impact local traffic, yes its close to the railway but tenants and the few owners will still have cars, look at Wolli Creek as an example of how over-development has destroyed any sense of community. if this was a smaller block below 8 storeys with more 3 bedroom apartments it would invite families as owner occupiers thats what any community values higher than transient rental apartments

22. I sent this in reply to an email from the council apologising for the website not working -they said it was fixed on the 8th but even so the period for objections should be extended and they should ensure DA supporting docs are made available as soon as they are received.

    I hope that the period for commenting or objecting to this horrendous DA will be extended to allow for the fact that no one has been able to see the supporting documents until a few days ago. This is totally unacceptable.
    Please do not approve this DA. There are so many unleased shops already in Marrickville and Illawarra Rds, also the extended Metro, more retail space is not needed. The proposed height is totally out of character for the area, shadowing will make Wicks Park unappealing, traffic in the area is already out of control, and there are already too many future slum apartments in this area.
    When will this Council start to consider the desires of the local population rather than the greed of developers who seem to have an unhealthy hold on the Inner West Council. It surely should be in the interest of council members to increase the appeal of the local environment in Marrickville rather than turn it into an unliveable congested and over-developed future ghetto.

    I wish the council would consider the quality of the apartments they are approving. There are some very shoddy ones in the Sydenham area, such as one in unwins bridge rd where the slum landlord refused to fix the lift and the air conditioner, both of which stopped working shortly after the tenants moved in.

23. Do we have a council with the power or even the will to protect or enhance the existing culture and amenity of the suburbs they preside over?
    This is another over the top development application which makes no effort to fit in with local urban character and culture. In an area where traffic congestion is a significant problem already how exactly are the minimum 270 cars plus delivery vehicles visitors vehicles etc. supposed to get in and out? The completion of the metro line will not miraculously solve this issue. The removal of functional light industrial buildings removes local job opportunities. As noted by others a large number of these dwellings are shoebox size and suited to transient occupants, few families can stay here. The retail level seems unnecessary given that a great shopping strip in Marrickville and Illawarra roads is already not fully occupied.
    The overshadowing of Tillman Park will degrade one of the few small green spaces in this area and no amount of landscaped public space between tower blocks can substitute for plain old non- intensive use public parkland and open space.
    It’s over the top, greedy and an eyesore even compared to the low level industrial landscape that is there now. Scale it back, make something that contributes to the community.
    

24. I got a nonsensical email from Council in response to the lack of documents.

    "Documentation is unlikely to be available straight away, but once the documentation is uploaded in our system and can be made available on Council's web page, it will be."

    Apparently "straight away" has been defined by Council as any time after the documentation is uploaded to their system, which given history of this could be weeks or months.

    I've read the Transport analysis document, which makes a lot out of a Green Transport Plan (Section 6) for the site. That plan requires extensive follow up "To ensure the successful implementation of the GTP, a Travel Plan Coordinator (TPC) should be appointed to ensure the successful implementation of the GTP. This could be the building manager or a member of the body corporate." Apart from the fact that it will take major initiatives from the NSW State Government to provide necessary transport incentives - none of which can be guaranteed by the developer or Council, it is painfully clear that the Council does nothing to follow up on any breaches of developments from approved DAs. Reporting such breaches gets zero response.

    While the plan seems to describe Victoria Rd as the sole arterial connection to the Princes Highway (one way only as there is no right turn from Enmore Rd to King St), it is Sydenham Rd's connection via Railway Rd that is the true arterial connection to the highway. Traffic is already regularly backed up from King St, down Enmore and Victoria Rds such that on weekends, it takes 20 minutes for a bus to travel two stops from Addison Rd to Stanmore Rd along the Victoria Rd route.

    The simultaneous expansion of the Metro, and the addition of all the new developments in this precinct are going to totally overwhelm the road infrastructure in this area. While they are considered independently of each other they are getting passed through Council. They must be considered together for sane planning.

25. The height is too much for this area as nothing exists at that height around there. That amount of apartments is ridiculous - look at Mascot and its oversized apartment blocks which dominate the streetscapes. Unnecessary retail space as others have said. It's the wrong road for this bulky development as the congestion is already excessive there. Scale it right back!

26. I agree with all of the responses against this DA. In the interest of good governance I request that IWC please put online Marrickville DAs immediately they are received.
    This is proposal is excessive. It would ultimately represent more value for the developers and the community if this parcel of land, and the others held by this developer, we’re considered as one zone. Scale needs to fit the existing neighbourhood. I believe it would ultimately be more profitable to aim for building a model suburb out of this site and the others across Victoria Road. Make it a Sustainability showcase. Show some vision. Buyers want to be in Marrickville because of the alternative cultures - build for that. Implement best practice waste management, WSUD and energy saving measures across the development.

27. Sorry I meant Wicks Park not Tillman

28. The Statement of Environment Effects is not yet available online as at 14/04/09.
    As the main summary of the proposal, being required to include "An assessment against all relevant controls in the LEP & DCP and any applicable SEPP" (from Inner West Council documentation requirements April 2018) , this is a critical document for review. Trust this will be uploaded ASAP

29. This DA is currently not acceptable as it is a significant overdevelopment of this site. The height is not in keeping with what is reasonable for this area, and is directly under the flight path. In addition it poses unacceptable shading for Wicks Park - almost totally covering it at 9am for Winter mornings. This is a key park for local children and parents to meet and it is completely inappropriate for users of the park to have their amenity affected by overdevelopment of this site. Development of a reasonable amount of dwellings in this area is acceptable but this proposal is in no ways reasonable.

30. As I understand the Victoria Road Precinct Development, this DA is just one of proposed 1100 Units. The roads are already struggling with the traffic and this will add further congestion. The 2011 and 2016 Census reports states that the average motor vehicle per household is 1.2 so it is clear the number of cars are not decreasing even though there are two train stations - Sydenham and Marrickville in the area.
    The 2106 Census, states that apartments, flats and units made up 45.2% of dwellings in Marrickville,(by way of interest Dulwich Hill has 50%) however throughout NSW this figure is 19.9%. We need to take stock of what has been approved/built since this time and engage the town planners to ascertain what is required in respect of green spaces, schools, road upgrades, services (police, ambulance, SES etc). We need to stop approvals of significant projects in a vacuum and pretend they will have no impact.
    Green buildings are on the rise throughout the world and we need the Council to develop and mandate green building standards and reject soulless concrete blocks that are being approved. Buildings need to be eco-friendly and energy efficient, and improve the quality of the surrounding environment. The DA process needs to take into consideration the materials buildings are made of and the radiant heat they emit; We need better design elements such as green walls and roofs and high rise developments need to provide green areas for residents (Wicks Park should not be considered in this context as additional green space needs to be provided)
    In short, we need to drastically re-develop our planning laws to incorporate elements that beautify and cool our cities so that we can actually enjoy them. Each new DA should be assessed in terms of the impact they have on services and infrastructure(including roads) needed to be provided to the community. There needs to be ratios developed (people to green space, schools etc) and god forbid that the developers would actually have to give back something to the community. If they can't be provided the DA should be rejected. This DA provides no benefit to the local community - the gains will all be directed solely to the developers.
    I agree with previous comments relating to the need to maintain our creative and light industrial spaces and that the approval of this DA will be the beginning of the end for them. I also note the plethora of vacant commercial/shop front premises in Marrickville that have been vacant for some time.
    Please reject this DA application and support the wishes of the rate paying community. There needs to be a holistic approach to planning in the inner west and not the current piecemeal one.

31. I oppose this DA on the following grounds

    1. The scale of the development is out of keeping with the current area. No developments in the Victoria Rd / Sydenham Rd are anywhere near these heights
    2. The negative impact on traffic. The DA documents do not give an accurate representation of traffic flows through the area.
    3. Car parking is inadequate for the number of proposed apartments and retail outlets. This will lead to cars being parked on the surrounding roads further impacted already congested roadways
    4. Impact on venues. With laws as they stand the first complaint by a resident will see the currently thriving live music, brewerys and distillery closed.
    5. Potential health impacts to the kids in Marrickville Public from the disturbance of the highly contaminated soils of the location. There is the potential for heavy metals and asbestos to be spread to the surrounding park and roadways as well cafes and school leading to ill health
    I seek that you oppose this redevelopment on the above grounds

32. At first glance, I am horrified to think about the traffic which is already terrible in Marrickville. What are the solutions to accommodate the additional cars ?

    Also, what is happening to the park ? It's really not clear from your information what is happening.

33. I live on the corner of Victoria and Edinburgh road, around 1km from this proposed development. Traffic here is already beyond a joke with near gridlock conditions around peak times. Developers will make a fortune and taxpayers will have to pay for more road upgrades, the greed around Sydney's apartment building boom is quite disgusting. If enough of these are built No one will want to live here!

34. This proposal should be rejected in its entirety for the following reasons:

    1. SCALE
    - the proposed scale of this 270 apartment development is completely out of proportion to the surrounding areas, with the highest building in the area currently being 2 storeys
    - the nearest highrise is at Wolli Creek
    - the proposed towers will entirely overshadow & overlook the surrounding areas (including other residential properties)
    - Council has previously refused similarly disproportionate developments in Rozelle (Wests Tigers site)
    - existing schools are all at or near capacity, & there are no plans to build any further schools in the area
    - there are insufficient medical, police, etc facilities in the local area to cope with the proposed additional residents

    2. AMENITY
    - the proposal will severely overshadow the exisitng recreational facilities at Wicks Park including the well used tennis courts
    - the development is too close to existing recreational facilities such as the Red Rattler theatre, the Marrickville Bowling Club, several cafes & various craft breweries and distilleries, as well as to music studios on Faversham Street
    - under NSW law, any complaint about noise from residents would result in closure or unworkable restrictions to these important cultural and recreational facilities which give the Marrickville area its unique character
    - the Inner West already has one of the lowest ratios of open space per capita in Australia; high density residential developments will only worsen this deplorable situation

    3. TRAFFIC & ONSITE PARKING
    - the assumptions underpinning the traffic impact analysis are fundamentally flawed on many levels
    - the report takes no account of other extensive developments currently under way or proposed for the area (e.g. Marrickville Metro, value capture for the new NW metro line, Carrington Rd precinct)
    - the report doesn't consider the impact on the already heavily overused Railway Pde, Sydenham
    - the report doesn't consider the impact on weekend traffic on Victoria Rd and surrounding streets (which is currently heavier than weekday traffic)
    - the report doesn't consider the impact of ratrunning on the surrounding narrow suburban streets
    - the report doesn't consider the impact on the additional Addison Rd market traffic on Sundays
    - the report doesn't consider the impact on Marrickville metro traffic following the redevelopment of that site currently under way
    - the report doesn't consider the impact on local streets of Westconnex
    - the 306 proposed onsite parking spaces are manifestly inadequate for the scale of the development
    - the plan assumes that the majority of single dwelling residents (i.e. mostly couples) will have 1 or no vehicles between them, which is highly improbable
    - the plan assumes that most residents will use public transport/active transport (i.e. walking & cycling) and as a result won't have vehicles, which is completely unrealistic in an Australian context
    - the inevitable impact of the proposed development would be significant spill-over of residents parking their vehicles in the surrounding streets, severely impacting local businesses & current residents

    4. EMPLOYMENT LANDS
    - the proposed development would further alienate the already limited and shrinking employment lands in inner Sydney
    - per the original submission from DoP, the Sydenham employment lands should be maintained in their present uses
    - the planning proposal takes no account of the additional impact on employment of contract distributors, only accounting for FTE on site
    - this residential development is too close to various noisy light industrial sites (e.g. metal working sites), with the same likely impacts of noise complaints from residents on these pre-existing commercial uses/residents

    5. CONTAMINATION
    - the proposed development site subsoil and ground water is moderately to severely contaminated with heavy metals, asbestos & PFAS (all known carcinogens)
    - the development site is within 100 m of a primary school
    - the development site is adjacent to sporting and recreational facilities
    - the development site is close to cafes & bars
    - the development site is on a busy pedestrian & cycling route to Sydenham station
    - the remediation & works plans appear to assume that there will be neither wind nor rain during the construction period

    6. AIRCRAFT HAZARDS
    - the proposed development, while said to be within the CASA ceiling limit for the area, creates a potential navigation risk for aircraft
    - the plans do not appear to take building infrastructure such as lift heads & air-conditioning into account in the calculation of height
    - the plans make no mention of the required cranes during construction, which would unquestionably exceed the CASA height limit of 50m for the space (given that the proposed finished building height is 49m)
    - many of the larger aircraft now using the flightpath approach below the nominal glidepath level
    - any outcome of an accident would be catastrpohic

35. Thank you Paul Maynard for your well expressed objections to this truly horrifying proposal. The Inner West Council has an obligation to all the residents in Marrickville & Sydenham to carefully consider all these points. If this proposal is approved it will be the beginning of the end of the character of the local area.

36. Is this a joke? https://gotrim.marrickville.nsw.gov.au/WebGrid/default.aspx?s=PlanningDocuments&container=DA201900096 has the supporting documents, but I cannot understand how such a stupid application was ever approved apart from a strong suspicion that the process is corrupt.

    I don't believe the data given for the traffic analysis, or, in fact any of their other analyses. Traffic is already at a standstill for hours every weekend on Victoria Road, this development will make the situation far worse during the build and forever afterwards.

    There is no good traffic access to this site from any direction, meaning there's going to be a lot more congestion along Victoria Road and Sydenham Road, and this can only have bad effects on the rest of Marrickville (and Enmore and Newtown). There are too many apartments and not enough parking, the recommendation "...that a green travel plan be implemented to encourage residents, staff and visitors to travel to and from the site by modes other than private vehicle..." is utterly ridiculous. People own vehicles, there's nothing that can be done about it. There is nothing good to say about the Transport Impact Assessment.

    The buildings are too tall and they're right under the flight path. There are no buildings anywhere near this tall anywhere else in Marrickville or the surrounding suburbs and the proposed 49 metre height is obviously going to cause problems with shade, not to mention the increased noise and even the increased exposure to aviation exhaust that the higher-floor apartments will receive. I live around the corner and I can smell aviation fuel most days. This site is closer to the flight path and the fuel/exhaust exposure will be much worse.

    Please don't approve the current application, it's lunacy and will have only negative effects on Marrickville and its residents. Don't allow developers to ruin Marrickville the way they ruined Summer Hill, Mascot and Wolli Creek.

37. Wow. That’s some next level audacity there. Given the surrounding buildings, all low density housing and light industrial, you would expect that council would be looking to retain the features that made people choose Marrickville to live in.

    Allowing a development of such scale would forever destroy what everyone who lives here hold dear.

    Consider something more in keeping with surrounds instead of trying to wedge as many people into the smallest space possible.

    I absolutely agree with all the comments in objecting to this development. And all the comments relating to the traffic. It’s single lane and a car park most of the time. What it doesn’t need is more vehicles and people.

38. While we have to accept a level of development in the Marrickville area, any plans and approvals should take into account the appeal and character of the area, as well as the inevitable impact that influxes of people and vehicles will have on existing facilities and amenities.

    My key objections to the development are outlined below:

    - This DA represents a decidedly bold and out-of-proportion approach to the development of the area. The proposal would tower over all sites within kilometres, with a density far beyond anything within a reasonable radius. It is alarmingly out of character with everything that Marrickville is known and regarded for.

    - Local traffic, schools and transport are already stretched to the limit – an influx of so many additional residents and vehicles will push these resources to breaking point and beyond.

    - The development will completely overshadow existing open spaces and recreational areas.

    - The inevitable impact on local small businesses. Prolonged construction will affect businesses during their standard operating hours and affect accessibility. Those businesses that survive the construction period will be at the mercy of new residents objecting to what they may perceive as excessive noise or operation.

    - The proposed number of parking spaces and naivety about the number of cars residents own will cause even more parking issues and have significant impact for existing and new residents.

    - The development does not consider the additional impact that currently-underway constructions (Marrickville Metro) and road developments (Westconnext) will have on the neighbouring streets and how this development will only further contribute to the negative impact.

    In my experience, Inner West Council has seriously considered the voices of the community and the impacts of over-development. I have been impressed by their willingness to value the character of the area and make efforts to preserve this in concert with need for a degree of new development. I hope that this DA is no exception.

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