A $2.2 million cafe and amenities block will be built in Cahill Park, Wolli Creek after the development application was approved by the Bayside Local Planning Panel this week.
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The DA for the site at 2 Princes Highway, Wolli Creek was submitted by Bayside Council.
As Bayside Council was the applicant, an independent planning consultant was engaged to assess the application which was referred to the Local Planning Panel under 'conflict of interest' criteria.
The 2018 Masterplan for Cahill Park identified a proposed cafe and amenities block for the site.
Bayside Council's DA was lodged in May and an independent planning consultant carried out an assessment and plans were amended to the car park layout and stormwater plans.
The key issues considered included conflict between pedestrians and cyclists in the shared zone in the pathway between the proposed cafe and the amenities block.
The design was amended to smooth out the edges of the buildings to improve the sightlines in the shared zone. Signage is also proposed to make it clear that the area is shared and to encourage cyclists to slow down.
The council received three submissions which all supported the proposal.
The planning panel found the proposal was worthy of approval as it will provide increased amenity close to the recently-built children's playground.
The proposed building will have a total area of 265 square-metres and will replace an old amenities block on the site that has been demolished by the council.
The DA includes construction of a cafe with indoor and outdoor seating for 80 patrons, a kitchen, storage and delivery area, a public toilet block and a new footpath and landscaping, according to the Statement of Environmental Effects lodged with the development application.
The cafe will be constructed as a cold shell and the council will ask for Expressions of Interest from potential operators once the DA is determined.
It will have a maximum five employees and its hours of operation will be restricted to Monday to Saturday 6am to 10pm and Sundays 6am to 8pm.
The cafe is part of a multi-million upgrade of Cahill Park which includes construction of an environmenally-friendly seawall, picnic area and pathways and lighting and a fenced dog off-leash area.
Funding for the $2.5 million project has come from the state government's Stronger Communities Fund with an additional $1.4 million spent on the remediation of land in the park.
