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Previous Council
report from 27 July 2009 |
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Item 7.1 - Attachment 1 |
Previous Council
report from 27 July 2009 |
REGULATORY
ITEM NUMBER 9.1
SUBJECT Section 82A Review -
DESCRIPTION Demolition of the heritage listed hall,
restoration of the heritage listed St Peter's Church and use as a restaurant, construction
of a 13 storey hotel with basement car parking for 20 vehicles.
REFERENCE DA/466/2008 - Submitted
17 September 2008
APPLICANT/S Southern Cross Enterprise Group Pty Ltd
OWNERS Southern Cross Enterprise
Group Pty Ltd
REPORT OF Manager Development Services
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REASON FOR REPORT to council: Section 82A Review EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: 1. This Section 82A Review application
seeks Council’s reconsideration of the previous refusal to grant consent for the demolition of the heritage listed hall, restoration of the heritage
listed St Peter’s Church and use as a restaurant, and construction of a 13
storey hotel with basement car parking for 20 vehicles. The original
Development Application (DA/466/2008) was refused on 4 September 2008 under
delegated authority for a number of reasons including loss of a heritage
item, non compliance with the height controls of the City Centre LEP,
unacceptable impacts on historic view corridors due to the proposed building
height, non compliances with street setbacks, issues raised by objectors and
the public interest. 2. Following the lodgement of the
Section 82A Review application the applicant has amended the application in
an attempt to address some of the issues that were identified in Council’s
refusal of the application. In particular the following amendments have been
made: · Reduced height of new hotel
building from 49.57 metres to 42
metres; · Reduced FSR of development from
4:1 to 3.62:1; · Redesigned the internal layout of
the new building; · Reduced the number of off-street
car parking spaces from 54 to 20; · A Conservation Management Plan has
been submitted; · An Economic Analysis justifying a
variation to the height control based
on costs associated with the conservation of the heritage listed church building has been submitted; · A written response has been
submitted to Council’s Heritage Advisor; · A written response has been
submitted to Council’s Traffic Engineers; · The number of patrons proposed for
the restaurant in St Peters Church
has been reduced from 300 to 220; · The number of patrons proposed for the
bar of the hotel has been
reduced from 300 to 150. Some of
the amendments and/or additional information that have been submitted
address some of the previous issues raised. It is also noted that since the original
determination of the application council staff have obtained legal advice that
confirms that clause 35(9) of the City Centre LEP 2007 (heritage
conservation incentive) provides a mechanism to approve a development application which exceeds the
height limit prescribed in clause
21 by more than 10% in the absence of an architectural design competition. 3. Key to the determination of whether
the proposed development is appropriate for the site is the question of
whether the demolition of the heritage listed hall is appropriate; and
whether there is merit in permitting a new building on the site that exceeds
the height control prescribed in the City Centre LEP by 18 metres. These are fundamental planning and heritage
policy issues. 4. Heritage - Both of the existing
structures located on the site (Hall and Church) are individually listed
items of environmental heritage in schedule 5 of the City Centre LEP 2007.
Schedule 5 identifies their significance as ‘state significance’. The NSW
Heritage Office in comments on the subject application indicate that the hall
itself has not been identified as having a high level of significance and has
been extensively modified. 5. The view of the NSW Heritage office
appears to be at odds with the listing in the City Centre LEP and the view of
Council’s Heritage Advisor who’s opinion is that the hall is important to the
heritage value of Parramatta and should be retained. It is also the opinion of Council’s
Heritage Advisor that the proposed 42 metre building will have an adverse
impact on the curtilage of St Peters Church building. The detailed comments
of the heritage experts are in the attached section 79C assessment report. 6. Height - Clause 21 of the City Centre
LEP 2007 prescribes that the maximum height permitted for development on the
subject site is 24 metres. The proposed building has a height of 42 metres.
This represents an 18 metre or 75% variation to the LEP height control. 7. It is the opinion of both planning
officers and urban design officers that the new building demonstrates a high
standard of architectural design and it is clear that the architects have
paid considerable attention to the architectural detailing of the building
and the selection of materials. Council’s
urban designer also felt that the building was a good example of a small
footprint building. 8. However it is considered that
construction of a building on the site with a height of 42 metres is contrary
to the objectives of the height controls in the LEP. It is considered that
the additional height will result in shadow impacts on adjoining properties
far greater than a compliant development would; the additional height results
in unacceptable impacts on historic view corridors and other historic items
within the ‘Church Street North Special Area’. It is also considered that the
additional height will impact adversely on the future built form and skyline
of the Parramatta City Centre due to the significant variation to the height
standard proposed in this application.
9. A total of ten submissions have been
received in response objecting to this application. 10. For the reasons outlined in Attachment 1,
it is recommended that Council uphold its previous decision and refuse to
grant consent to the Section 82A Review application. |
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That
Council as the consent authority uphold its previous decision and refuse to
grant consent to DA/466/2008 for the demolition of
the heritage listed hall, restoration of the heritage listed St Peter’s
Church and use as a restaurant, construction of a 13 storey hotel with
basement car parking for 20 vehicles for the following reasons: Aims and
Objectives of City Centre LEP 2007 1. The
development is contrary to the requirements of Clause 2 – ‘Aims of Plan’ of
Parramatta City Centre LEP 2007. The demolition of a heritage listed building
and the construction of a building of excessive height is contrary to aim (h)
and aim (j). The development is also contrary to the objectives of the B4 Mixed
Use zone in that it would not protect and enhance the unique qualities and
character of special areas with the Parramatta City Centre. Height &
Design 2. The
development is contrary to the requirements of Clause 21 – Height of
Buildings of Parramatta City Centre LEP 2007. The development will compromise
solar access to streets and nearby buildings, the height of the building does
not have adequate regard to heritage sites, the development does not provide
a high quality urban form for the northern and eastern elevations, the site
is not appropriate for taller development, the development negatively impacts
on historic views and the future built form and skyline of the Parramatta
city centre 3. The
development is contrary to the requirements of Clause 22B – Design Excellence
of Parramatta City Centre LEP 2007. The development fails to appropriately
address heritage issues, streetscape constraints, the principles of
ecologically sustainable development, and the scale of the tower is excessive
and incompatible with the future urban form of the area. 4. The
development is contrary to the requirements of Clause 22D - Building
Separation of Parramatta City Centre LEP 2007. The development fails to
provide a minimum side and rear setback for that part of the building above
36m in height and a written request for the variation of this development
standard was not been submitted with the application. 5. The
development is contrary to the requirements of Clause 22E – Ecologically
sustainable development of Parramatta City Centre LEP 2007. The development
fails to adequately address the following principles of Ecologically
sustainable development; (a) greenhouse gas reduction, (f) energy efficiency
and energy conservation, (b) embodied
energy in materials and building processes, (c) building design and
orientation, (d) passive solar design and day lighting, and (g) water
conservation and water reuse. 6. The
development is contrary to the requirements of part 2.1 - Building to street
alignments and street setbacks of Parramatta City Centre DCP 2007 as the
street setback of the development is not consistent with the existing street
setback of the church hall. 7. The
development is contrary to the requirements of part 2.2 - Street Frontage
Heights of Parramatta City Centre DCP 2007 as the scale of the building is
excessive in comparison to likely future development, the form of the
building is inconsistent with the likely future form of development within
the street block and the development would compromise solar access to the street.
8. The
development is contrary to the requirements of part 3.8 - Building Exteriors
of Parramatta City Centre DCP 2007 in that height of the building and the
streetscape presentation of the eastern and northern elevations is
unacceptable. Heritage 9. The
development is contrary to the requirements of Clause 22G – Special Areas of
Parramatta City Centre LEP 2007. The development is not compatible with the
character and significance of the Church Street North Special Area and the
Prince Alfred Park Special area and would not reinforce the specific
attributes and qualities of the built form of the Church Street North Special
Area. 10. The
development is contrary to the requirements of Clause 35 (heritage
conservation) and 35A (historic view corridors) of Parramatta City Centre LEP
2007 as the development seeks approval for the demolition of a heritage item
and would have a negative impact on the heritage significance of St Peter’s
Church and historic view corridors. 11. The
development is contrary to the requirements of part 7.1 - Controls for
heritage and Special Uses of Parramatta City Centre DCP 2007 as the scale of
the development is excessive and inadequate cartilage has been provided to St
Peter’s Church. The development is also contrary to the requirements of part
7.3 - Special Area Controls of Parramatta City Centre DCP 2007 as the scale
of the development would have a negative impact on the character of the
Church Street North Special Area and the heritage character of Prince Alfred
Park. Documentation 12. The
development does not satisfy the requirements of Clause 24 – Exceptions to
Development Standards as a formal request to vary the Building Separation
development standards of the Parramatta City Centre DCP was not submitted
with the application. 13. The
development is contrary to the requirements of Clause 33B – Acid Sulfate
soils of Parramatta City Centre LEP 2007 as the site is located within 150m
of class 1 land, incorporates excavation to a depth of at least 5m AHD and
neither an acid sulphate soils management plan or preliminary assessment of
the proposed works were submitted with the development application. 14. The
development is contrary to the requirements of part 5.1 - Energy Efficiency
and Conservation and Part 5.2 Integrated Water Cycle Management of Parramatta
City Centre DCP 2007 as the development does not incorporate rainwater
harvesting and re-use features and information demonstrating energy
efficiency equivalent to a 4 star ABGR or NABERS rating was not submitted
with the application. Public Interest 15. That
granting consent to this proposal would not be in the public interest and
would create an undesirable precedent, particularly in relation to it being
the demolition of a heritage item worthy of retention and the excessive
height of the proposed hotel. |
Jonathan Goodwill
Senior Development
Assessment Officer
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Section 79C Assessment Report |
47 Pages |
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Numerical Compliance Table |
1 Page |
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Plans and Elevations |
5 Pages |
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Locality Map |
1 Page |
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