A tower with 20-21 levels overlooking Cronulla mall is among a range of options proposed for providing more tourist and visitor accommodation and public car parking in the area.
The 67 metre high building, which would include a hotel and two levels of public car parking, would be Sutherland Shire’s tallest building and easily outstrip the 50 metres allowed for South Village at Kirrawee.
Sutherland Shire Council commissioned a consultant to produce a Strategic Sites Report as part of the draft Cronulla Town Centre Public Domain Master Plan.
The report identified three locations with the potential for tourist and visitor accommodation and the provision of more public car parking.
They are the Northern Gateway on Kingsway opposite the mall, the bowling club site in Croydon Street and railway land at the southern and eastern side of the station.
An accompanying report by council staff, which supported the initiatives, said increased height and density in Cronulla was explored during the preparation of the 2015 local environmental plan (LEP).
This had led to “significant community objection on the grounds of potential overshadowing of the mall, traffic generation and change to the character of Cronulla”.
“The Strategic Sites Report has modelled potential building forms to manage overshadowing to reasonable levels,” the staff report said.
”However, the change in scale proposed, particularly to the site at the top of the mall, is significant.
“At 76 [sic] metres this site would facilitate the highest building in the Sutherland Shire.”
[76 metres appears to be an error as diagrams show a proposed maximum building height of 67 metres].
”In comparison, the Kirrawee Brick Pit has a height limit of 50 metres.
“If the ideas put forward by the consultant are to proceed to a planning proposal, the community would need to be prepared to accept both the benefits and risks of each proposal.”
The council is due to consider the reports at its meeting on August 21.
The consultant’s report provided various options for each of the three sites:
Northern Gateway: The site was zoned B3 Commercial Core in the 2015 LEP, with a 30 metres (nine storey) building height.
Three options are proposed, with maximum building heights of 67 metres, 45 metres and 30 metres.
The development could provide a hotel / conference centre, and public car park of 126-250 spaces.
Bowling club: The present zoning for the Club Cronulla site allows a maximum building height of 16-20 metres (5-6 levels).
Options involve buildings of up to 22 metres, with the bowling greens retained in some form.
One option is to extend the development site to cover the whole block bounded by Kingsway, Purley Place, Croydon Street ansd Wilbar Avenue.
The development could house a new full-line supermarket and an extra 55-100 public parking spaces.
Railway end: Surplus rail land and the commuter car park area is zoned for 20 metres (six levels) development in the 2015 LEP.
Building heights of up to 22-30 metres are proposed for potential hotel or serviced apartments, with a new pedestrian link for tourists.
