An eight-storey boarding house has been approved for 13 The Seven Ways, Rockdale.
The $4.6 million development will include 48 boarding rooms, a manager's room, a ground floor commercial outlet and a communal rooftop open space.
The Statement of Environmental Effects accompanying the DA said the boarding house would provide a form of housing which has been identified by Bayside Council as being in short supply in the area.
"The proposal will commence the revitalisation of the northern side of The Seven Ways," the SEE stated.
The 411 square-metre site, which currently houses a two storey commercial building, is 50-metres from the Rockdale Transport Interchange. The site backs onto the Illawarra rail line.
Given the site's constraints, no vehicle access is proposed from The Seven Ways and no car or motorcycle parking is proposed.
"A new generation boarding house is simply a boarding house with self-contained rooms and often a high standard of communal facilities," the SEE stated.
"Sometimes also referred to as 'micro apartments', new generation boarding houses fulfil a legitimate, if not a niche role in the housing market."
The proposal will make a "positive contribution to the desired future character" of the area, the SEE concluded.
The Bayside Local Planning Panel unanimously approved the DA.
The Panel considered the boarding house as a suitable use for the subject site.
The site constraints means no car or motorbike parking is provided in the development for either the commercial or the boarding house component.
The Panel notes the Applicant is to provide at least 17 spaces for bicycles as well as charging points for electric bikes.
