This development is an assault on the built heritage of our suburbs.
Communities choked beneath a poultice of concrete and glass are being denied access to a fundamental aspect of human existence: the need for beautiful and well-planned spaces.
Bondi Junction lays bare the risks of piecemeal urban planning. An eczema of concrete and glass, it assaults the sinuous, shifting topography of the east, as if somebody had taken a Sharpie to a Turner landscape.
The problem with modern development is also echoed in the disposability of so many consumer goods: electronic devices, obsolescent within a year; cheap clothing manufactured by exploited labour; or the mountains of plastic that make up our supermarkets.
The repurposing of heritage architecture - not its demolition - is key to sustainable development. The natural proportions and subtle ornament of a Federation house or Art Deco apartment anchor our place in the world; they are distinctly Australian. Such a building is loved and appreciated and can be repurposed as an office, a surgery or a school.
I urge you to reject this development. The community - and its shared traditions and heritage - must come first.
