PlanningAlerts

17 Comments

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1. Six storeys is inappropriate on this site. Four storeys might be acceptable.

2. Totally agree with the above comment. Six stories is much too high for this location

3. The character of Penshurst shopping should be kept as is, anything over 2 storeys is not necessary in this location, there has been far too much development on nearby Penshurst Street without it spreading further. The heritage of low profile buildings in Penshurst should be kept, does Penshurst need to become a little Hurstville with its ugly skyline?

4. You people astound me,
   The proposed rezoning was advertised by Council and you had ample time to voice your concerns but no you wait until the owner spends thousands of dollars in submitting a development application to comply with Councils requirements and then this, after the event.
   Get a life.

5. The proposed development at 5A The Strand is far too high and bulky. It will substantially add to traffic congestion at the Strand, which in turn will risk to pedestrians. It will both over look and over shadow adjoining properties and the district. The inclusion of an affordable housing component is unregulated and only to allow the developer to obtain higher density on the site than they would otherwise be able to achieve. The Strand is a very busy precinct and completely unsuitable for high rise/ high density development. This and the other high rise towers planned for the Strand should be limited to a maximum height of four stories, inclusive if any retail shops etc at street level. It should also be noted that Penshurst station was rezoned in circa 2016 by Kogarah Council to allow several of these high rise, high density towers to be built and this would be just the first. This fact was made clear to the local community by the Labor candidate in prior to the 2019 state election. Refer the Leader Feb 27th 2019.
   What the community should also be aware of is the current Georges River Council plan to redevelop Mortdale, McCrae’s estate and West Oatley with up to 12 story high unit towers. This high rise, high density plan that will see Mortdale and all of Railway Parade and everything to Grove Avenue taken by developers like Ross Green. Its now time for everyone I the area to stand up to Council and be counted or we will loose our area to Developers and Investors like Mr Green.

6. The proposed development at 5A The Strand is far too high and bulky. It will substantially add to traffic congestion at The Strand, which in turn will pose greater risk to pedestrians in the area. It will both over look and over shadow adjoining properties and the district. The inclusion of an affordable housing component is unregulated and is only to allow the developer to obtain higher density on the site than they would otherwise be able to achieve. The Strand is a very busy precinct and completely unsuitable for high rise/ high density development. This and the other high rise towers planned for the Strand should be limited to a maximum height of four stories from street level. It should also be noted that Penshurst station was rezoned in circa 2016 by Kogarah Council to allow several of these high rise, high density towers to be built at The Strand and this development would be just the first odf several. This fact was made clear to the local community by the Labor candidate prior to the 2019 state election. Refer the Leader Feb 27th 2019.
   What the community should also be aware of the current Georges River Council plan to redevelop Mortdale, McCrae’s estate and West Oatley with up to 12 story high unit towers. There is already Das lodged for additional high rise, high density unit towers at Ellen Subway and the plan will see most of Mortdale and all of Railway Parade between Mortdale and Penshurst stations redeveloped and everything to Grove Avenue also taken by developers like Ross Green. It’s now time for everyone in the area to stand up to the Council’s plans or we will loose our area to Developers and Investors and will have to find somewhere else to live..

7. U on the payroll Ross. Peoples concerns are legitimate and timely. This will stand out and overshadow everything else. It’s not worthy and shouldn’t go ahead.

8. This development is to high and should be reduced to a maximum height of four stories. It will add considerably more traffic and congestion to the area. There are also plans to build to build another four of these oversized monstrosities at The Strand and Penshurst Station which will completely destroy the area and add many additional people and cars to the area and surrounding streets. The whole community notification and consolation process used by Council is highly flawed, which is evidenced by the lack of community knowledge and understanding of the impacts of the rezoning to rate payers. Why hasn't any of our Ward aldermen fought to stop the rezoning and this development and why haven't they bothered to inform the community about these and the other proposed redevelopment plans for the area. When this was raised with our local State Local Member prior to the 2019 state election we were all assured that nothing would happen in The Strand for "decades to come". My how fast time flies and his silence in respect to this and the other proposed massive redevelopment plans for McCreas Estate and Mortdale is (as usual) defining.

9. You seem to be very passionate about this development Ross, is it one of yours?

   I just love being chastised by developers that have nothing to loose but a buck, BTW are any of the new high rise DA's at Ellen Subway yours mate? Why not fess up

10. U on the payroll Ross. Peoples concerns are legitimate and timely. This will stand out and overshadow everything else. It’s not worthy and shouldn’t go ahead.

11. Ross,
    The developer chooses to spend thousands of dollars submitting a DA, hoping to get it passed through Council, hoping on a VPA (Voluntary Planning Agreement). Like the Mortdale RSL shambles, that had holes punched in the application by the developer, as it failed to meet a number of the current zoning requirements, and lack of information about increased traffic it will cause, not fitting in with the current theme of Mortdale, etc etc. The Georges River Town Planning team made the right call to knock it back.

    The developer should know very well that the DA will be put to public scrutiny, and rightfully so. We wouldn't want Council to just rubber stamp all developments that cross their desks now would we? We wouldn't want decisions made behind closed doors now would we? If a person building their own home is made to comply with the zoning requirements, then the requirement also falls on the developer, and more so, as their "development" has a far greater impact on the area than a single dwelling.

12. I am deeply disappointed that the rezoning had gone through without any genuine consultation. It is apparent from the community feedback that they were not aware of Re-zoning and we’re not given a genuine opportunity to vote against it. Given that we have already met our targets for affordable housing, I would ask that at least the development remains at 4 street and that any further proposal for affordable housing be rejected to keep the heights of the mega development lower. What the council has done to Kogarah and Hurstville is inappropriate and the consultation process and information given to the community is disproportionate to drastic changes that these decisions are making to our community. It’s as if it is intentionally biased to developers and the community only deserves a token consideration. Very, very, very disappointed in the council and it current processes.

13. If we look at the DA submitted we can see that it has been submitted by:

    Applicant - WINPHIL Pty Limited - Russell Green

    Maybe Ross above is related or a variation of name to try and keep anonymous.....or maybe he just has a popular surname.....

    Either way, this development should be rejected by council immediately. There are a number of concerns related to this proposal summarised below:

    1. Traffic in the area during the morning and afternoons is already unacceptable. You only need to be on The Strand between around 8.30am and 9.30 to see the queue of cars run from the pedestrian crossing on the NORTH side of the station, back down into Railway parade. This already impacts people turning right from Railway Pde into The Strand, residents trying to leave driveways from the immediate vicinity and pedestrians trying cross roads in the area.

    2. The intersection of The Strand and Railway Pde is already congested especially in the above peak times, and the addition of 25 units will clearly add to this negatively. There are at least 22 new cars to be added to this single development.....add visitors etc and it is clear to see that congestion will increase significantly.

    3. A 6 storey construction in this area (21m) is far too high, completely out of character and would create a visually negative addition to the area that would be visible from many suburbs away.....it sits at the top of the hill.

    4. Local parking is already at capacity. Being a very local resident, i understand that parking will congest the surrounding streets due to the proximity of the train station. However, the streets are already at capacity with people parking for work and local employment. Let us not use the current situation of COVID lockdowns to drive the streets and suggest that they are empty. Only 8 weeks ago the trains were filling up and parking anywhere near the station was near impossible.

    5. If the council believe that current infrastructure will support the massive growth of people/visitors from these huge developments, then they need to spend more time out and about. The current parking for the local train stations offers minimal all day parking, poor traffic control on the NORTH side of the train station at Penshurst St and Bridge St and pedestrian congestion mostly due to passengers disembarking at the station.

    6. The Strand is currently within the Primary School zoning for Hurstville South Public school (on King Georges Road).....it is NOT within the zoned area for the new Penshurst Primary school that has been recently built. Council must review the current capacity of both schools and assess impact to Hurstville South Public due to population increase from these high rise buildings.

    7. With the affordable housing proposal, the DA seems to be very light on details. Is there a 'manager' onsite 24x7 to manage the area and residents? What enforcements are in place to ensure these studio units remain 'affordable'? There are obvious safety concerns resulting from this development of affordable housing. How will this be addressed?

    8. The actual internal plans of the development seem to light on/non existent. I have not been able to find floor plans indicating the number of kitchens per studio/bathrooms etc as part of the affordable housing arrangements. Are they shared cooking/living areas? What fire and emergency regulations are in place for this density of development?

    9. Has any assessment been completed on the local infrastructure to confirm it can handle this development? That is, electrical, water and sewer? I believe the 4 storey building at Ellen Subway has a new substation added (i may be incorrect) however the local power substation at Penshurst station has failed at least once in the past few years and caught on fire resulting in wide spread power outages. The infrastructure services need to be assessed for a development of this size.

    Council should be notifying all local residents of this development given the size and potential impact on so many local residents.

    I believe development of the site is a good idea, but it should be done to enhance the area and current landscape, not construct a 6 storey building at the top of a hill in a suburban community village.

14. Why is this development at The Strand and the other proposed high rise developments at Ellen Subway, Railway Parade between Mortdale and Penshurst stations, most of McCreas Estate and all of Mortdale and West Oatley suddenly being rushed through by Council during the Covid lock-down and ahead of the Council Elections on the 4th September? What is the urgency? Why hasn't listened to the communities rejection of this over development as expressed in 2019. This all needs to be stopped until sometime in the new year and then only after the community has had the opportunity to have their say and be listened to by Council. These are our homes and our community and we must be given the right to be properly informed and to have a say in what we want and don't want in our area, it is not an opportunity for money hungry property developers to turn a quick buck. Has anyone on Council given 5 seconds thought about where we will go or how we will be able to live with this much development, congestion and the increased levels of crime these developments bring with them?

15. The developer should withdraw this application. Not only this project will do a lot of damage to the community, the environment, and our descendants, but also, quite possibly, to the developer's finance. More often than not, we have a get-rich-quick plan that doesn't work.
    Former Developer X

16. Questions you need to ask: Does it comply with council's controls re, height, FSR, parking, landscaping ??? if so it should proceed if not it should not proceed. simple.
    If you're not happy with the height control council has adopted for this site don't vote for the same councillor next time you get to vote, that's only after you can confirm it was council which put in place the height control and not the state government.
    If it was the state government then don't vote for the same state representative, your local MP, just one more thing, check which government was in power when the controls were amended to allow this development.
    You should not be blaming the developer, he's just doing his job.

17. A 6 storey construction in this area (21m) is far too high, and completely out of character with the area. The bulk and size is far too much and would be a visual blight on the area that would be visible from many suburbs away.....it sits at the top of the hill.

    Maximum hight should be limited to 2 stories and shops from street level with adequate on site underground parking to accommodate all residents and their visitors to avoid any impact on surrounding streets and residents. If the developer doesn't like it he should try it on in Hurstville.

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