Gladesville Community

Group (Incorporated)

The submissions below have been made by members of the community and were offered as suggestions for your consideration.

Others will be posted, soon.

Council's reply to the Ryde - Hunters Hill Flora and Fauna Preservation Society has been posted below it, on 20 November.

Submission by The Hunters Hill Trust

The Hunters Hill Trust has made its submission on the GSV Development.

It is an excellent submission which applies a professional standard of evaluation of the design, its impact on the community, and the performance of the Council. Please take a few minutes to read it. The Summary and selected extracts are shown below.

SUMMARY

The Hunters Hill Trust is opposed to the proposal from Gladesville Shopping Village Developments Pty Ltd for the redevelopment of the Gladesville Shopping Village (GSV) for the following reasons:

1.It is an overdevelopment of the site.

2.The revised DCP, which sets the planning controls, is flawed and misleading.

3.It will have an adverse impact on the character and amenity of the surrounding residential and commercial areas.

4.It will exacerbate existing parking and traffic problems.

5.It creates a poorly designed gated community physically separated from the rest of the area and fails to provide a safe and healthy environment for its occupants.

6.It involves the demolition of a building of considerable heritage significance, which was on land previously owned by Council.

7.The proposed GSVD redevelopment is a cheap and very ordinary proposition that is driven by commercial profit and pragmatism.

8.The Council, as a stakeholder in the proposal, has failed to properly represent the community by taking a leadership role in its development.

[From Section 7 - A cheap and very ordinary proposal]

The proposed GSV redevelopment is at base a cheap and very ordinary proposition that is driven by commercial profit and pragmatism rather than the aim of creating a fine public place with well-designed and properly integrated private housing, car parking and retail facilities. It does not aspire to excellence.

[From Section 8 - Council has failed to properly represent the community's interest]

As a result of Council’s ineptitude the community has lost out. Profit and pragmatism have prevailed over the community interest.

(right-click to here to download the HHT Submission)

The Hunters Hill Trust have issued an Addendum to their submission, primarily related to non-compliance with SEPP 65 controls including separations of towers and habitable rooms.

(right-click to here to download the Addendum to the HHT Submission)

Sample Submission Letter

(right-click to here to download the sample submission file, shown below)

Submissions from others in the Community

Judi Partland - Principal of Gladesville Primary School

Concerns re Development of Gladesville Shopping Precinct

•The over-development of Gladesville by City of Ryde Council and now Hunters Hill Council is causing considerable distress to the Gladesville Public School community. With 6 DA’s either approved, waiting to be approved, or in the planning stage, within 500m of the school, amounting to 600+ apartments, we are feeling increasingly ‘hemmed in’. All of these projects seem to be applying the maximum density and height allowable under the DCP – this doesn’t have to be the case. It would be good for both LGA’s to assess what amount of development is actually viable for the local Gladesville community.

•If the proposed developments were of structures consistent in height to existing dwellings in the area, there wouldn’t be a problem. The fact they are all proposing residential towers is a major source of angst. Although they are not towers in the same sense as the CBD, for Gladesville they will be considered ‘towers’, at double the height of existing buildings in the area. The residents of Gladesville don’t want to become the next Hurstville, Rhodes or Pyrmont.

•There seems to be a lack of thought for infrastructure planning, particularly catering for increased traffic. The impact on all local residents, regardless of where they live in relation to the developments, will be enormous. The inevitable bottlenecks at Meriton St, Cowell St and Pittwater Rd will force motorists to try and avoid them and use minor streets that up until now only cater for local traffic. Any traffic study needs to take into account all the proposed developments in both LGA’s as they are all so close and traffic concerns interrelated. They cannot be considered as ‘stand alone’ developments. Increased traffic = increased concerns for pedestrian safety, particularly that of children from the school and pre-school.

•The proposed loading dock at Cowell St will have a rollerdoor mechanism to control entry and exit of vehicles. This will create constant noise pollution throughout the day opening and closing with associated noise from warning ‘beeping’ alarms.

•The design of the 4 proposed residential towers does not enhance the physical appearance of this space. I would strongly urge some community consultation over the design of this area so that the general public can take some ownership over the project. Of particular concern is the ‘gated community’ effect created by the exclusive use podium level below the four towers. There is actually no additional pedestrian access to this development than there is at present. Allowing general pedestrian access to the podium level would at least give all residents of Gladesville a relatively pleasant means of walking to and from the shopping centre.

•Local residents are also very concerned about the reclassification of the heritage-listed building at 10 Cowell St that is of significant value to the history of the local area. The means by which this cottage became ‘un-heritage listed’ is still not clear.

•The exact status of the public carpark is still not absolutely clear in terms of ownership and if/when it was sold why this wasn’t under public tender arrangements.

•Gladesville Public School is bursting at the seams. The DEC has no immediate plans to build permanent classrooms.

•Residents of Gladesville want to send their children to the local public primary school. They want to be able to park close to the local supermarket. They want to be able to board a bus to the city with ease.

•What they don’t want is to invite the family over for a BBQ and be joined by the residents of 180 apartments next door that are overlooking their back yard.

•I would strongly urge Hunters Hill Council to extend the timeframe of this project and allow community feedback time to be extended so that all stakeholders can be properly informed of the processes involved in, and the implications of, such a massive development that will change the face of Gladesville forever.