Sutherland Shire Council is urging an application for 222 apartments above the shopping centre in the Cronulla Sharks development be rejected.
The council said the proposal would have an unacceptable impact through additional traffic and overflow parking into adjoining sporting field car parks, which were already suffering from stage one of the project.
Another reason given for rejection was the “adverse visual impact of several high rise towers above the approved retail centre” in Woolooware Bay Town Centre.
The resolution was passed unanimously after Labor councillors succeeded in rescinding an earlier decision to simply note a report by council officers, which was highly critical of the proposed modification to the approved concept plan.
A decision will be made by the Planning Assessment Commission, or possibly the Sydney South Panel.
A report by council officers, which will be submitted separately, questioned the need for the extra apartments, criticised the bulk and scale of the buildings and raised concerns about traffic, parking, biodiversity and community benefit.
The report said, if approval was given, the community should share in the “potential profit windfall of tens of millions of dollars”.
It suggested developer Capital Bluestone fund a major community project, such as a cycleway to the Greenshills sporting complex or renewing the Caringbah aquatic centre.
The report said, with stage one of the development occupied, there was “already an acute parking problem on site and in the local area”.
“New residents are experiencing difficulty finding sufficient parking and are impacting the users of adjacent sporting facilities,” it said.
“Council has had to gate off nearby public parking areas and is contemplating installing signs to time limit public parking, which will further frustrate new residents.”
“Stages two and three of the residential development are yet to be completed and will inevitably worsen the problem once occupied.”
The report said a traffic analysis and observations showed major adjoining intersections were already at capacity.
“The information available indicates that the proposed substantial uplift in development will exacerbate the effects on the local community in terms of traffic, as well as placing further pressure on limited on street parking,” it said.
The report said the new, 30-minute interval bus service from Miranda to Cronulla via Woolooware Bay, which did not even go via Woolooware station was inadequate.
A shuttle bus, operated by management of the development, should run to Woolooware station, as originally proposed, it said.
The report said the proposed addition of about 40,000 square metres in gross floor area and increased building heights were a significant modification to the approved concept plan.
“The Draft South District Plan's five year housing target is 23,500 dwellings,” the report said.
“The portion assigned to Sutherland Shire is 5200 dwellings.
“This target will easily be delivered under the provisions of SSLEP 2015 [the new local environmental plan], based on the rate of dwelling approvals since the LEP came into place.”
“The proposed buildings sit on a heavy podium of retail and parking, and the buildings appear to be more tightly clustered together.”
