PlanningAlerts

9 Comments

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1. I do not think this application should be approved for the following reasons.

   1. A boarding house is already being built in Albert street by the railway station.

   2. I have lived in this street for over 12 years together with many other families which consider
   the peace and tranquility of utmost importance for their children, especially at night when they
   are trying to sleep.
   Development of student accommodation in this street would pose a great threat to this peace
   and tranquility , especially on the weekends

   3. In the current block of apartments where I reside there has always been a problem with
   the public parking in our visitors parking due to the extreme shortage of parking in Chatswood
   even when signs have been put up clearly stating this is not allowed. This problem will be
   greatly exacerbated with the introduction of student accommodation being built.

   4. As there is a park right next to our block of apartments, there have been instances where
   school students have been using this area as a gathering area to consume alcohol which
   leads to unacceptable behaviour and increased noise levels in the neighbourhood
   The development of student accommodation in the street will only exacerbate this problem.

   In conclusion I believe that the development of student accommodation in this street will be detrimental to property and rental values as this development will inevitably lead to an increase in noise levels,traffic volume and unruly behaviour in the area,

2. I do not think boarding house application in 18 Freeman Road should be approved because the below reasons.

   1. My personal story: I have lived in Chatswood and been in the State electorate of Willoughby for two years. I like Chatswood and always call here my home since moving here. And, recently I made one of biggest decision in my life - bought my first home in 14-16 Freemand road. The key reason that urges me to settle in there is because my wife and I plan to have our first child in 2013, and we think Freeman Road is a peace and quite place for us to have our new born baby and raise him/her there in following years. However, I just heard the news from my friends that there is an application to build boarding house in 18 Freeman Road. Honestly, after heard about this, both my wife and I have been hard to fall into a sleep for a couple of nights. Because both of us studied in USYD and had visited our friends who lived in boarding house before. We have seen how it looks like. Music in night, parties in weekends, alcohol drinking and alcohol-related unruly behaviour… all of them waked us up in night. I don't want our babies loses peaceful and quite night in their childhood, so if this application is approved we may have to consider selling the new bought property and have a re-purchase in next year. It will really be a big strike for our family. I know all residences lived in Freeman, Oliver and Eddy road may have the different situations, but I quite believe that someone may share the stories as similar as my wife and me.

   2. Drinking problem: In our uni experience, we have seen some students (even in campus) tried finding a hidden place to drink alcohol in night, so it really worries us that sports ground of Chatswood high school and the small garden of Oliver Road will become a secret alcohol-drinking place for students. If really happens, it will give a big negative impact to peaceful life of more families who live in this area.

   3. Property value: I feel that it is also unfair for our residences lived in Freeman road to get potential loss of property from this building project, which has given a quite big impacts already. From realestate.com.au, we have seen more than five properties of 14-16 Freeman road have been sold since Oct. And, we believe that it will have more similar sells coming if this application is approved.

   4. Parking problem: in the last two years when I lived in Chatswood, I often have a problem to find a visitor parking place when visiting my friend who live in 5 Freeman road. Having a boarding house at the end of Freeman road will make the current extreme shortage of parking in that area even worse.

   5. Noise: That planned boarding house is so close to our building that noise will give us a big problem in their construction period, and we even think it may not only impact our neighbour residences, but also studies of Chatswood High School.

   6. From student perspective: for those students studying in university, no matter in Macquarie Uni, USYD or UTS, they have got 400 accommodations next to Chatswood station. I can't see a obvious reason that they may need another 50 rooms in another place - 10 mins walking to Chatswood station. It is not convenient for them.

   In general, I can't see a benefit to Chatswood residence from building this boarding house in Freeman Road, but we believe that it will give big negative impacts (such as noise levels, parking problem, unruly behaviour, potential loss of our property value…) to a large number of residences lived in Oliver, Freeman and Eddy road. So, it's why I think this application should not be approved.

3. I am a resident of 16 Freeman Road. I am strongly against this application. I hope the applicant can answer the below questions:

   Why does the applicant plan to build this boarding house in our quiet residential area? IMO, it is so wired. Not only to people who live here, but also to students who may move in.

   How much does the applicant care about our community? Have they evaluated the impacts to our community? Or, have they done any survey to the people who live here?

   Why does the applicant think we may need another small boarding house after we have already got 12-level big boarding house nearby train station?

   How can this building project benefit Chatswood residents, in particular the residents who live on Freeman and Eddy road?

   We know all people who live in our current neighborhood cherish our peaceful community and environment. Any reason makes the applicant believe students (in particular international students) will care about our community as us?

   For building a boarding house in residential area, my biggest concern is who are going to manage students' behavior outside of house? We know that normally boarding house rules only focuses on managing students' in-house behavior.

   Who are going to take the liability to resolve the conflicts between residents and students in future? I believe there will be many conflicts coming later if this application is approved.

4. I am resident of 16 freeman road. It's a very peaceful lane and is a very comfortable dwelling for families and children. It is a close ended street and the proposed boarding house is right at the end of the street. Right next to the street is he playground for chatswood high school. There are several children who use the path from eddy road near 16 freeman road to get to chatswood public school.

   Boarding houses should not be created in this cul-de-sac that too right in the end of the lane. This will cause disruption in the entire lane. Young population induce a high probability of alcohol related unruly behavior. The street is full of children using the short cut from eddy road to get to chatswood public school. It will create unnecessary risk for the families and children, resulting in stress for parents of young kids.

   There is very limited parking on the street due to the nature of street and the number of cross roads. These parking resources will also become very scarce and will cause potential conflicts between residents and students.

   Given that there is already a boarding house coming up in albert avenue, there should not be another one created here.

5. I am the owner of a unit in 14-16 Freeman Road Chatswood and I am extremely against this application to the extent of which I am very annoyed due to the following reasons-

   1.) Pranks/littering-

   As my unit is among the lower levels of the apartment, my balcony is exposed to the general public located above the entrance to the carpark. As such, it is extremely vulnerable to people throwing rubbish etc. inside and that kind of behavior is appealing to high school/University students.

   2.) Noise Pollution-

   As my apartment is very close to the applicated position of the boarding house, it is subject to massive amounts of noise pollution at night. I want to have a peaceful night's rest after a tiring day of work and I'm sure that this is true for everyone in the vicinity.

   3.) Bad Influence-

   The students attending the boarding house may mostly be good fellows, but there is bound to be a few that like to "fool" around. As a parent, I wish for my child to grow up in a peaceful and gentle environment and I do not want him to mimic what the boarders do. I am sure that every loving parent would agree with me.

   4.) Increased Parking problems-

   As of right now, the people who I invite to my unit are already in strife of valid parking positions and sometimes have to park at the carpark next to the train station. Should this application be approved, i fear that the situation with visitor parking may worsen many times over.

   5.) Property and Rent Cost will drastically drop-

   I purchased this unit for a lot of money and I feel outraged at the application because should it be approved, the amount that my unit is worth will certainly drop. I do not feel that it is fair to me or anyone in Freeman, Oliver and Eddy Road that we should lose money for the sake of some students that will only ever cause us trouble.

6. I am an owner and a resident of a unit in 14 Freeman Rd. I would like to raise my objection with the development of the 6 storage boarding house at 18 Freeman Rd., due to the following:

   1) Safety and security concerns for the residents and neighbouring school children:

   There is a park around the corner where many Chatswood high school students like to gather. I saw when I passed by that they consumed alcohol sometime. Having a large boarding house near the park will induce the current students gathering with more alcohol influence. High turn over and the likely lifestyle habits of the typical demograpic that would reside in boading house will expose the current students gathering to the unsavoury characters and behaviours.

   This would negatively impact the safety and security of us, the residents that live in the surrounding areas. In particular, for us that walk to and from Chatswood station and regularly have to walk home from the station in the evening. At the moment, I feel safe to walk to/ from home to the station, but I don’t think I will feel safe having to pass the streets around a gathering of people consuming alcohol.

   The street also have a lot of children using the short cut from Eddy road to get to Chatswood public school. A decrease in security/ safety will create unnecessary risk for the children, the parents might end up have to walk with their kids or to drive them to the school everyday.

   2) Decrease in property value and rental income of the surrounding areas from the negative wide spread perceptions of having a large boarding house located at the neighbouring property. In this case it would be a large boarding house that can accommodate up to almost 100 people.

   3) Noise: a large boarding house will potentially have a large young populations that live together. This will significantly increase the noise level of our quite and peaceful neighbourhood and street.

   4) Worse graffiti problem: larger gathering of young populations that mix with alcohol will exacerbate the graffiti problem that we have in our area. We regularly have gravities, specially around the small park where the students currently gather.

   5) Parking issue: At the moment the street parking has been stretched to the limit. It is very hard to look for a street parking along Freeman Rd. Building a large boarding house that potentially can have up to almost 100 tenants (and therefore a large number of vehicles) will significantly increase the parking problems that we have.

   6) The approval of the propose boarding house (in addition to the 400 rooms boarding house in Alber St) would set a dangerous precedents to change the overall character of the surrounding Chatswood area. This will reduce the overall value of the surrounding units in the street.

7. My wife and I don't believe the new proposed Boarding house at 18-20 Freeman Rd should be approved for construction, here are a summary of our reasons:

   1) Noise
   We have all been students and youngsters and know how inconsiderate we were at that age. Having those many students away from their families will definitely affect the peaceful and quiet environment we all have now, that has been the main reason I am sure, for many residents of this area.

   2) Safety of the Area
   We already have a lot of graffiti and break-ins and majority of them happens in School Holidays where the kids are bored and have nothing better to do. Having these many students around, fond of drinking and find it fun and cool to do these stuff will for sure bring lots of trouble to this neighborhood.

   3) Too Many Boarding Houses in Chatswood
   Apparently there will be another 12 storey Boarding house, just in Albert St. Having only 2 schools and no Unis in Chatswood, what is the necessity in building these many Boarding Houses in this area which will change the atmosphere of the whole suburb. If there's a need for more of these accommodations, why not make it in Macquarie or another area with already student environment.

   4) Parking Space
   Living in Chatswood and Freeman Rd/Eddy Rd for over 4 years now, off street parking is such a big issue here already. Adding such a big Boarding house, will only make this worse.

   5) Value of properties in the area
   We don't find it fair to any of the residents, who made their choices at the time to move to this quite street(s), to impose such big change which will affect the value of our properties and leaving us with not many options. Property values are already tough in Australia, so please don't make it harder on us for paying off the mortgage and ending with a lower priced property.
   In fact if this plan is going ahead with Council, we should all consider relocating from this lovely area.

   Overall, we find it a very bad decision to build such Boarding House in our vicinity and a dead end and quiet Street like this. We really hope Willoughby Council reconsiders this decision.

   Ali

8. I strongly object building the boarding house in Freeman Road. I agree with the points raised by others before me. My main concern at the moment is the possible negative impact that it may cause to my investment property.

9. The application should not be approved. Reasons are many and include
   1. The area has a peaceful character and is safe, with a family friendly environment. Having a transient population changes the dynamic of the place.
   2. A boarding house is already being built in Albert street by the railway station, which although not desirable is still more in tune with the surrounding area. One of the attractive qualities of living in Chatswood West is that it is removed from the super high density of the commercial hub near the station, and this should be preserved. It maintains a residential tone to a suburb which would otherwise be just high density and highly commercial.
   3. I have lived in this street for 7 years and was born in the area (in Artarmon) more than 30 years ago so I am very familiar with the locality and I agree that families value peace at night so they can sleep undisturbed. Noise pollution would be unavoidable with that many students in the area.
   4. There is an extreme shortage of parking in the area. In the block of apartments where I live visitors parking is limited and often used inappropriately, having 12 allocated parking spots for that many boarders is crazy.
   5. The park right next to the apartment block on Freeman Road has been used on occasions by school students to smoke and drink alcohol, or truancy which gives a bad example to kids crossing this area and the development of student accommodation in the street will only negatively impact the numbers of unsavoury characters and affect impressionable children. Again this brings down the standard of the area.
   In conclusion I strongly object to the development of student accommodation in this street as it will be detrimental to property and rental values and cause noise and traffic pollution and encourage unsavoury behaviour in the area,

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