Residents have won a major battle in trying to to stop Tradies building a 138-place childcare centre at Gymea.
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Sutherland Shire Council’s Independent Hearing and Assessment Panel (IHAP) has recommended the development application (DA) be rejected on eight grounds.
“The panel overall considered that unsatisfactory performance against a number of key planning considerations indicated that the proposal was an overdevelopment of the site,” its report said.
Residents were delighted with the panel’s verdict, and hope Sutherland District Trade Union Club (Tradies) will finally reconsider.
Trish Halls, one of the leaders of the campaign to stop the project, said, the judgment “sends a very clear message to Tradies in terms of what is acceptable development in our beautiful neighbourhood or, more to the point, what is not”.
“The complete disregard Tradies and their team of consultants has shown towards planning requirements of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, let alone the community, is breathtaking.
“While I understand the council still has to vote, and there is an option to appeal in the Land and Environment Court, it is my hope that Tradies will take on board the heartfelt views of their neighbours, and the well considered views of the experts on the panel”.
Another campaign leader, Vanessa Dadley, said it was “very reassuring to know that residents’ motives for fighting this DA have been fully justified and based on sound reasoning, all backed by the council ARAP (Architectural Review A\dvisory Panel) report and now IHAP”.
“It will be interesting to see the club's response,” Mrs Dadley said.
“Clearly they can't still maintain that they had the community’s needs and best interests at heart as that's wearing thin.”
The panel found the DA:
- Fails to provide sufficient car spaces.
- Fails to demonstrate that the impacts on the surrounding locality will be acceptable.
- Fails to satisfactorily resolve the relevant issues raised within the public submissions.
- Approval would set an undesirable precedent for similar inappropriate development and it is therefore not in the public interest.
- The reliance on parking off-site both on street and upon another separate lot with its own parking needs is not conducive to rational and orderly development of land and raises potential safety issues.
- The proposed planning for parking, building location, building massing and open space provision is inappropriate to the site and its context.
- The proposal results in the removal of some significant trees on the site which should be considered for retention.
- Further consideration of acoustic compliance is warranted as to whether the constraints on the use of open space necessary to achieve compliance indicate an unsatisfactory design.
The panel’s report will be considered by council’s planning committee on Monday, with a final decision expected at the full council meeting on August 21, where Labor councillors will abstain from voting.
Tradies chief executive Tim McAleer said after the panel meeting, where he considered the club did not receive “a fair go”, an appeal could be made to the Land and Environment Court if the DA was refused.
