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MINUTES

 


Parramatta Local Planning Panel

Electronic Determination

Tuesday, 19 March 2024

 

 

 

 

 

 

Via MS Teams


 

 

PANEL MEMBERS

 

Julie Walsh (Chairperson)

Steve Driscoll (Expert Member)

Simone Lotz (Expert Member)

Robert Warry (Community Representative)

 

STAFF MEMBERS AND ADVISORS

 

Legal Support Officer - Christine Treadgold, Senior Development Assessment Officer - Jasmin Gotsoulias, Senior Heritage Specialist – Andrea Giusa, Business Governance Officer - Neeli Sharma (Minute Taker)

 

1.     ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO TRADITIONAL OWNERS OF LAND

 

The Chairperson, acknowledged the Burramattagal people of The Dharug Nation as the traditional land owners of land in Parramatta and paid respect to their ancient culture and to their elders past, present and emerging.

 

2.     WEBCASTING ANNOUNCEMENT

 

The meeting was not livestreamed. The Chair commenced the meeting at 3.14pm.

 

3.     APOLOGIES

 

There were no apologies made to this Local Planning Panel.

 

4.     DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

 

There were no declarations of interest made to this Local Planning Panel.

 

4A.   PUBLIC SPEAKERS

 

There were no public speakers at this meeting.

 

5.     Confidential Matters

 

5.1

SUBJECT        Confidential - Land and Environment Court Proceedings - 52 Essex Street Epping

(Report of Group Manager, Development and Traffic Services)

 

 

DETERMINATION

 

(a)       The Panel determined as follows:

 

(1)The Council is instructed to enter into Consent Orders approving development application DA/416/2022 for an 80 place child care centre with basement carparking at 52 Essex Street , Epping subject to the following:

 

 

a. Amendment of the plans as follows:

 

aa. External window and door frames to be changed from aluminium to timber.

 

bb. The roof pitch be increased to match  or very closely align with that of the adjoining dwelling houses at 50 and 54 Essex Street.

 

cc. Increase the width of the eaves to match or very closely align with that of the adjoining dwelling houses at 50 and 54 Essex Street.

 

dd. Basement carpark door to be of timber appearance and appropriately finished to be in keeping with the heritage conservation area.

 

b.  Amendment of condition 95 (application for any new, reconstructed or extended driveway) to include specific requirements for signage and other treatments (recommended by Council’s traffic expert) to ensure pedestrian safety .

 

c.   Amendment of the Plan of Management referred to in condition 117 to include specific measures to manage traffic flow during peak times or any traffic mitigation recommended by Council’s traffic expert.

 

2.   The consent orders to include the conditions in the Council officer’s report to this meeting subject to amendment in accordance with the above (and any minor consequential amendments).

 

REASONS

 

1.          The Parramatta Local Planning Panel (LPP) refused an earlier version of this proposal on 18 October, 2022 for the following reasons:

 

1.    The Panel is not satisfied the matter of contamination has been fully assessed in accordance with SEPP (Resilience and Hazards) 2021 and the Panel believes that the requirements for remediation of the site are not sufficiently clear as further investigation is still required.

 

2.    The Panel notes the existing strong and generally consistent character of the Heritage Conservation Area. The Panel finds that the large contemporary domestic design is incompatible with the Hornsby Development Control Plan 2013, Heritage 9.3.13 Essex Street (Epping) Heritage Conservation Area. The front façade is twice the width of other houses in the vicinity, with very

 

basic detail, uncharacteristic low pitched roofs and minimal eaves overhangs. Aluminium framed window and door frames are unsympathetic to the heritage context. The street frontage is dominated by access ramps, pathways and the double driveway to the basement car park, with sparse landscape.

 

3.    The representations made to the Panel regarding the current traffic situation in the street, (that Essex Street is presently used as an alternative to main streets in the Epping area) may present unsatisfactory access to the site and the Panel requires further assessment dealing with this point.

 

2.          The amended plans (version C) have addressed the LPP’s concerns regarding the width of the front façade but not the other concerns, namely: low pitched roofs, aluminium framed windows and doors and minimal eaves overhangs.

 

3.          The Panel is of the view that the failure to amend the plans to address these concerns will have an adverse impact on the heritage conservation area and that any approval should be conditioned to require these changes.

 

4.          In terms of traffic and parking, the LPP notes that the advice of the Council’s external traffic consultant is that the proposal has acceptable impacts and raises no objections on traffic and parking grounds provided there are specific measures to manage pedestrian safety and traffic flow at peak times. The LPP has therefore made some amendments to the recommended conditions of consent.

 

 

 

VOTING:

Unanimous

 

 

The meeting terminated at 4.05pm.

 

 

 

 

 

Chairperson