PlanningAlerts

31 Comments

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1. This DA is not in keeping with the Leura community and area. The infrastructure in place already struggles to survive all the vehicles that come through on a daily basis, which worsens on weekends and holiday periods. This project goes against the historical, architectural, and logistical components that make Leura what it is famous for.
   Do not approve this development.

2. This type of development is inappropriate for a town/village within the Blue Mountains World Heritage site. The Spires building opposite is a failure on many levels, architectural & low occupancy. Local businesses and residents would suffer from the destruction of historic gardens & access to already limited car parking spaces. The other buildings on this site provide visitors & locals with much needed amenities, a small shop and cafe/restaurant. The impact of any construction would also threaten the next door hotel, which provides hospitality, indoor & outdoor & a local market.
   Do not approve this development.

3. Cannot understand: the previous tenants Fleming restaurant and probably the current Bunker Café, could not do any renovation, painting and small cosmetic modifications due to heritage restrictions .
   Now there is a plan to knock down and build an hotel.
   Please explain.

4. The proposed height, setbacks, massing, building material choice, colour of finishes and design of the buildings combined together will dominate the surrounds and will not positively respond to the surrounding context.

   The proposed setbacks design and massing of the buildings combined together will unreasonably impact upon the character of the area.

   The proposal fails to respond to off site amenity of surrounding properties, resulting in unreasonable visual bulk and overshadowing impacts.

   The proposal would result in unacceptable internal amenity.

   The use and buildings are of a scale and intensity which will result in unreasonable amenity impacts on the neighbouring properties.

   The scale, lack of setbacks and lack of landscaping all contribute to an overdevelopment of the site.

   The proposal fails to provide adequate landscaping opportunities consistent with the areas character, it may include due to insufficient information provided non native vegetation that may become environmentally invasive and it fails to ensure ensure suitable maintenance of native vegetation including shrubs, small plants and trees indigenous to the area.

   The proposed use and development, having regard to the site and surrounding area, would represent an inappropriate planning outcome.

   The proposal has not dealt adequately with contemporary best practice environmentally sustainable outcomes in context of glazing, insulation, building and roofing materials, energy use, rainwater capture in context of local annual precipitation, preventing entry of litter to stormwater drains through suitable pollutant traps and screens, internal amenity, light pollution and spill from the development and protecting residents from off site sources of light spill, solar access, water use and runoff of precipitation from the site.

   The proposal had not adequately contemplated suitable external lighting to avoid spill of light affecting other occupants within the site and lots neighbouring the site.

   The proposal does not adequately detail plans for the legal and responsible management and disposal of spoil resulting from excavation of the site including identifying the destination of the spoil, an investigation of the site and existing dwellings to identify asbestos and other hazardous materials as well as engaging a suitably qualified contractor to undertake spoil management, collection and removal.

   The proposal does not adequately deal with contemporary best practices in water sensitive urban design to eliminate runoff from the site into local stormwater networks especially with regard to gradients of paved surfaces, creating bunded areas in the paved sections to redirect precipitation flow and the concept of directing excess precipitation into a suitable permeable and landscaped area with pollutant screens so that litter of leaves and other litter does not enter the stormwater network and the landscaped area referred herein and not provided should be able to filter site pollutants such as leaked motor vehicle fluids and waste water generated from bin and motor vehicle washing.

   The proposal does not adequately contemplate water sensitive urban urban design so as to avoid inundation of neighbouring properties due to rain and the development diverting any overland water flows.

   The proposal should be refused consent.

5. This is a totally inappropriate development application. Too much of Leura's architectural heritage has been lost, or allowed to deteriorate. Also, the area near that section of The Mall is already a traffic bottleneck. Visitors come to see how beautiful Leura is, not to see Sydney style 'blocks' of concrete and glass. If more accommodation is deemed necessary in the Leura area, and that is doubtful, given the low occupancy of 'The Spires', restore The Ritz to its glory days as a hotel.
   Please do not approve this application.

6. Leura attracts residents and tourists alike on the basis of its quaint, village like feel with attractive heritage architecture and boutique shops. A development of this kind undermines the very essence of what makes Leura unique and attractive. The council has measures to protect the natural environment from development pressures, and so they should also take seriously impacts on the built environment and townscape. There is already a proposed boutique hotel to be developed at the site near the roundabout, just a few doors up from this site. Is this development really necessary? At what cost?

7. I object to this proposal because of the following: I agree with the above comments. it involves demolishment of a 1930s part of the building and other substantial changes to the property and landscaping which will impact on the overall heritage value and be detrimental to the region. The proposed height, set back, colour, finishes and design are not suitable for the area. The new development is too large for the area and involves the usual generic modern Australian design, ie, square angular, flat roofed concrete boxes, jarring with the surrounding natural and built environment. Please do not approve this.

8. I see the proposal as a breach to the heritage culture of the Blue Mountains and Leura village. The proposed design is a stark contrast to the existing features of the property and Leura in general. There is a general lack of natural environment and garden space.

   The resemblance to Schofields and Box Hill estates is evident and concerning

   What has happened to the architecture industry and original concepts

9. I strongly object to creating yet another eye sore and another white elephant at the entrance to our peaceful and beautiful village..Have we learnt nothing from the Spires experience? The people behind this proposal might have more money than business sense. Who would want to come to Leura and stay in a 3 storey concrete jungle,located between a Highway and a Railway station? This application is wrong on so many levels. And the comments above have spelled most of them out. Please do not approve!

10. 110% a totally inappropriate development for the township and in particular the location.
    The proposal is wrong on so many grounds and puts at risk the general ambience of the township, of which the heritage buildings play such an important role. It is exactly this ambience that draws an already and increasing large number of tourists to the township.
    The "Adaptive reuse" of a heritage site is marketing spin at its finest and one which hopefully doesn't turn out to be another Willow Grove debacle as experienced by the good people of Parramatta.
    Not to mention the small and narrow stretch of road over the railway line into Leura township which is already a bottleneck for the large volume of traffic exiting the highway (and the Spires complex) so a proposal which adds turning traffic into and exiting a 3 storey hotel with underground carpark is nonsense.
    Here's hoping the community can unite against this appalling proposal which strikes at the heart if the very nature of the township and what draws people to it!

11. I oppose this DA. This DA is totally inappropriate for the town of Leura.

    It would be a misuse of space that Leura simply does not have without doing damage to the township and the quality of life for its locals.

    The size and structure of the proposed development is obtrusive, and would detract from the charm of the village in question. The implied increase of traffic to the area, particularly the top of Leura Mall is grossly impractical to a spot that is already a bottleneck. Furthermore, the damage to the heritage structure is not desired nor is it acceptable.

    People visit and stay in Leura for its charm and its history. Destroying part of its history for a modern eyesore that will cause more traffic jams is an absolutely disgusting and impractical proposal.

12. If you are going to build this eyesore can you then put a petrol station in Leura Mall as well?

13. I do not agree with this development. I believe it is in a terrible place for a hotel right between a highway, a railway line and the main road into Leura. Leura Mall already suffers from heavy congestion and traffic jams at this point. The bus stop outside the railway station already makes this section of road dangerous enough due to there being a lack of road space for the buses to get of the road properly. We do not need more traffic building up through that corridor caused by an additional 73 car parking spaces, staff in the new hotel and its guests. I am also concerned that the proximity to the Alex hotel may negatively effect its business. Particularly also impede on and over shade the history of the Alex Hotel and its facade. I am also concerned with how the heritage listed building it is being attached to may suffer and loose from its heritage. From the proposed size this will be quite a large structure and will not be in keeping with Leuras quaint township. Thus disrupting the holiday garden village appeal and in the long term I believe will harm local tourism by destroying what makes Leura village unique.

14. This structure is large and not in keeping with the heritage look of Leura village. Please BMCC, at the least, it would be wonderful if they could make this structure considerably more in line with the other buildings on Leura Mall. I understand the need to continually develop, but the structures should not destroy the feeling of the upper mountains architecture. I have always been proud of the decisions our council makes, I’m really hoping this will be another one...

15. Leura does not need another hotel as there is ample existing accommodation in holiday houses around village.

    The style is out of character with the heritage village feel which people escape the city to enjoy the ambience and gardens.

    Please strongly consider this monstrosity which would devalue properties around the village and deter visitors from visiting our unique mountain community.

16. This location is the gateway to the Leura Village and as such it needs to reflect the character of the village. This development definitely does not!
    I oppose this DA as I believe that it will ruin the charm of our tourist town . As far as I am aware this type of accommodation is not in high demand in Leura - where people are attracted to the heritage, quaintness, charm and uniqueness of the area - this building has none of these things. (the "adaptive reuse" of the existing heritage building is not enough to overcome the size and inappropriateness of the new structure.
    As other's have mentioned - traffic is also of great concern in this location.
    Please do not give the green light to this proposal - it is completely inappropriate.

17. This is a totally inappropriate Development for Leura. A three storey structure with the capacity for over 70 cars, in an area that is already a bottle-neck, particularly at the weekends and holidays, will be disastrous. The traffic from this, and The Spires, as well as the day-tourists, train pick-ups, the bus-stop, and maybe, even a few locals who brave it, will just make it impossible to move in such a narrow strip of road. Additionally, such a three storey structure is not in keeping with the 'village' nature of Leura, which is one of its key attractive elements for tourism. Leura is not a Sydney suburb, and that's one reason why people find it so appealing. That's what the tourist, wanting an escape from the city suburbs enjoy so much. I am also concerned about the building being 'incorporated' , or rather swallowed up, by the large and ugly 'addition'. As a Heritage building, it should be left as it is. Too much of Leura's architectural heritage has been lost, or allowed to deteriorate.
    The addition of 3 storeys of another unimaginative generic modern Australian design, of square angular, flat roofed concrete boxes, will just give us yet one more, albeit a larger and more obtrusive, monotonous looking eyesore like the apartments on the approach ramp to Leura, or like the many new apartment buildings in places in Sydney's Harold Park.
    This development will add nothing to the attractiveness of Leura. It will make it extremely difficult to get into and out of The Mall and it will detract from the lovely village ambience, a result which could actually be detrimental to the tourism on which Leura depends. Please DO NOT approve this development.

18. I oppose. I don’t think apartment buildings housing a lot of people should be built anywhere in the mountains let alone a congested part of Leura because the Blue Mountains are prone to bushfires. The locals need to vacate quickly apartment buildings would hinder that in my opinion.

19. This is a totally inappropriate development application. Too much of Leura's architectural heritage has been lost, or allowed to deteriorate. Also, the area near that section of The Mall is already a traffic bottleneck. Visitors come to see how beautiful Leura is, not to see Sydney style 'blocks' of concrete and glass. If more accommodation is deemed necessary in the Leura area, and that is doubtful, given the low occupancy of 'The Spires', restore The Ritz to its glory days as a hotel.
    Please do not approve this application.

20. I agree with all the above comments, I have only read through them very quickly (though) and listened to what others have had to say on Facebook, as well as read about adaptive reuse & what the Gazette wrote today. So I won’t repeat certain issues already raised and will just mention that I am mostly concerned about how it will effect the surrounding restaurants ? I don’t feel there is a need for yet another cafe & hotel there at all, especially as there are plenty of other beautiful hotels and places to dine & stay in Leura, so how does it benefit the community which already has a lot of tourists and traffic (with not enough parking) as it is ?

    I just wonder why developers aren’t building what the community actually needs, *eg as expressed via a community poll earlier this year, surely investing in what people truly need would be of more benefit to them (& everyone) than yet another hotel/restaurant/cafe ? https://m.facebook.com/story/graphql_permalink/?graphql_id=UzpfSTc0NzQxMDI2ODpWSzozNDg4NzgyMDQ0NTY4NDMy

    But if they want to build a hotel with dining or adaptively reuse a heritage site, then why don’t they do something with the closed down old property (I think it was a convent) next to the movie cinema, or rebuild the Chateau Napier etc ? Can they also not make their design more complementary to the heritage style that’s already there ? Either way, is there any proof that this development will truly benefit the community at all or is it really just a business investment opportunity ?

21. Sorry, typo in my comment above, I meant - can they please make their design more complimentary (& similar) to the heritage style that is already there (ie if this building goes ahead) ? It is also crucial for architecture to have a universal design for all (if it doesn’t already), b/c when the disabled and neurodiverse community are innately considered within every step of the planning process, it always exponentially benefits everyone. Thank you ! 🙏💛 PS Last but not least, I am also a firm believer in respecting/following the First Nations People’s lead in everything we do (as a community & nation), as they are & #AlwaysWasAlwaysWillBe the rightful owners of this land hey ! So Dharug people should have the ultimate choice, in all developments etc, that happen in Leura ...

22. By all means develop more tourist accommodation around Leura, but make it real mountain, Australian accommodation. Now THAT would enhance the tourist experience, and be in harmony with our lovely old Blue Mountains villages. Australia doesn't have that many old villages. We can't afford to make a mess of them. This glitzy hotel is all wrong for Leura. Come on BMCC! Get creative and put yourselves on the map.

23. I support new business ventures, facilities and progress, but lets be clever about it and ensure it fits within the context of area. Leura is highly valued for its village setting, heritage buildings and gardens set in a world heritage national park. We need to protect these qualities as they are unique / rare (and becoming more so each year).

    Council has produced / commissioned numerous documents that describe these qualities and engaged the community on these issues. The community strongly support of these values. This data is documented in the LEP, DCP and numerous heritage studies, etc. The proposed development is inconsistent with the aims and planning guidelines in these documents. It would be very disappointing if this proposal was approved.

24. YES - Let's develop tourist accommodation and facilities around Leura. But do it right and preserve this unique village set in the quiet of a National Park. There is land available to the north and still within strolling distance of the village.

    HIGH DENSITY - The proposed Hillcrest Hotel is a glass, glitzy building, with high-density accommodation on a small footprint of land right within the CBD precinct of a turn of the century village. That's all wrong.

    TRAFFIC - Current traffic congestion in Leura Mall will be exacerbated by the hotel's driveway feeding more cars onto an already busy two-lane street.

    NOISE - To date the operators of the Bunker Cafe have created a serious noise problem for nearby businesses and residents The Bunker holds outdoor functions with loud rock music which directly impacts residents and overnight guests in The Spires apartments across the road. This loud music also reaches home owners in upper Grose Street and part of Railway Parade. (The Covid crisis halted it for a while, but the loud music will soon be back.)

    THE NOISY NEW KID - It's hard to believe that one 'new kid' business on the block was allowed to disturb the operation of several established businesses that have quietly operated here for decades. Businesses negatively impacted by the noise include The Spires Serviced Apartments, The Tamarin Restaurant, Silks Restaurant (now relocated), and a potential eatery in the old 'Goblet' premises.

    The Hillcrest development will supply accommodation for conferences, weddings and other social gatherings, and the attached Bunker restaurant is to be their venue for indoor and outdoor dining. This means the loud music will likely play through the afternoons as well as the evenings. That's so very wrong for our village.

    PLEASE - I implore the BMCC to preserve the unique character of the Leura Village central precinct. Tourists come here because it is old and charming, and not loud and glitzy like most other places they could choose to go. They'll stop coming when Leura Village ceases to be what it has managed to remain, a rare and beautiful reminder of Australia's past.

25. This DA will create significant new traffic congestion in Leura Mall, particularly right turning traffic arriving from Sydney seeking access to the carpark. (There is already regular congestion here with reverse angle parking on the eastern side and with vehicles travelling north delaying outbound traffic with right turns into The Spires complex (complicated by the pedestrian crossing from the eastern footpath to Leura station entrance... and lack of a footpath from The Spires entrance into Leura village because of the narrow railway bridge). The bus stop on the western side of Leura mall, north of the railway is regularly used by track work buses and local services. When a bus is stopped for an extended time, traffic regularly overtakes "wrong side" of the road to get past pairs of coaches. Current traffic congestion of turning/halted-for-pedestrians/buses blocking northbound lanes will be considerably worsened.

    The development itself is not in keeping with council's planning in the area which has been medium density units along the highway with restaurants along the east and west of Leura Mall north of the railway. After Flemish Flavours changed hands to The Bunker, outdoor music became a significant annoyance to residents as the hilltop location broadcast music well beyond the grounds of the restaurant into quiet residential areas. What strategies will be in place to ensure that residents will not be disturbed by broadcast noise from the new/existing facilities in the development?

    Particularly for the foreseeable traffic congestion (due to already inadequate footpath and management of turning/stopped traffic in Leura Mall, I request that you do not approve this application.

26. This is the third multi story hotel that has been dumped on Leura in the last few months, two of which will occupy sites that have existing buildings classified as heritage, even the railway station is heritage, all unfortunately local and not state. I have lived here for nearly 30 years, there has been never been any planning for Leura and a traffic plan has never been completed. I have no objection to increased tourism, however this is not the place for this type of occupancy. The community has been thrown under the bus, fortunately, the bus is not moving as it is caught up in the bottleneck of Leura. My road was never meant to carry the traffic it now carries, we risk our lives for a carton of milk and a loaf of bread. Leura is contained within the strategic hub of Katoomba, which generates 100% funding and it is my view Leura and Katoomba should be considered a single entity and planning and implementation taken over by the state government, due to the high volumes of tourism in both towns. There are no pedestrian crossings between the shops at the northern end or from the railway station, the verbal answer always has been if vehicles are slowed it will inconvenience motorists, perhaps a greater inconvenience would be a pedestrian lying dead or dying in the street. I am fed up with the independent traffic reports that always state, that there is spare capacity or traffic will not be impacted, of course traffic flows will be impacted with service and tourist vehicles, perhaps coaches, I doubt if anyone will be seen toddling down to the supermarket with a shopping bag to supply the kitchens of these developments.
    This application should be refused along with the application next to Leura fire station, there also should be a moratorium on all applications of this nature until proper state and federal reviews can be carried out. I have always told my children if you do not know what to do, ask for help.

27. This development will simply further burden the existing traffic congestion that plagues Leura. Tourism is the life blood of local business and the upper mountains community but developments like this must be deferred until an appropriate traffic management plan is implemented and the ongoing lack of parking is addressed.

    As a regular user of the three main pedestrian crossings that service the Mall area, I experience semi-regular “near misses” in which cars have had to break suddenly to miss me or simply not seen me due to the traffic disarray, poor signage and inadequate lighting. Let’s hope the school children, elderly and other residents and visitors don’t have to pay the price for Council’s apparent unwillingness to deal with a self-evident risk.

    By all means build hotels and the like to welcome people to our community, but improve the traffic, parking and other infrastructure FIRST. Please also ensure that such hotels align with and improves the aesthetic of a community that is over a century old - something which, in my opinion, this particular development rather spectacularly fails to achieve.

28. This is a complete overdevelopment of the site which will add to the already congested traffic in the Mall and around the village.We should be preserving the village atmosphere of Leura,not destroying it.

29. I have just been informed that this will go to the planning panel meeting on February 22.
    The email states “As a person who made a submission, you will receive separate advice providing details of the meeting, including how to address the Panel. Once uploaded, the Report will be able to be viewed at https://www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/local-planning-panels/planning-panel-meetings”
    I will look at whether I can address the panel directly or lodge a submission

30. This will look terrible, don't mind the idea of building this but keep with the old heritage. what has happened at the other approach of the mall looks disgusting. Build it to fit in with the mall, sandstone features etc.

31. Leura's attraction is its wonderful atmosphere created by previous century buildings, charming gardens and peaceful and unhurried lifestyle. Certain places must be preserved. In fact many more should be preserved. Setting a precedent by permitting bigger buildings, modern in design or not, will be to the detriment of this beautiful town. No tourist will appreciate bigger buildings, too many cars, and weaving through crowds on the street. If tourists want to visit a busy, overcrowded, teeming with cars, place, surrounded by big buildings, they can always go to Bondi Beach, Darling Harbour and many others. Unfortunately there are too many towns where development has spoilt the atmosphere.

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