1-3 Skyline Place Seniors Housing

Please refer to the attached document.

We are the owners of an apartment in the first stage of the seniors housing development at 7 Skyline Place (Lot 10 DP1258355, and SP106532), and our building is situated adjacent to the northern boundary of Lot 11 DP1258355 (5 Skyline Place), both lots being on the other side of Skyline Place from the proposed development of 1-3 Skyline Place.
We have lived experience of seniors living and the location since moving into our apartment in September 2023. We have examined the development proposal for 1-3 Skyline Place and register our formal objection to the Development Application in its current form due to its bulk and scale, height, density, design and functionality. It is inappropriate for seniors living.
Our concerns and objections are as follows:
1.
Traffic Issues in Skyline Place.
The traffic report has not accurately determined the current traffic flows (especially associated with the commercial businesses and medical practice at 7 Skyline Place) and significantly underestimated the projected traffic flows post development of 1, 5, and 3 Skyline Place. It has not taken into consideration that 3 Skyline Place was vacant for a considerable period and is now a bus depot where buses generally exit the site early in the morning.
The total number of off-street car parking spaces for all buildings using Skyline Place post development will exceed 1,000. Seniors living is very active and often includes several car trips per person per day, and some residents are not retired, so the notion of Seniors infrequently entering and exiting the car parks is incorrect. Also, the commercial businesses such as a medical practice or café generate a lot of short-stay vehicle movements, as demonstrated in 7 Skyline Place.
There is also no mention of the impact of construction-related vehicles on the traffic conditions in Skyline Place over the next 10 years, which has been demonstrated to be significant with the current construction works on 5 Skyline Place. This is exacerbated by the size of the trucks coming
and going along the narrow street. Parking of construction vehicles should also be required to be on-site and not adversely affect limited street parking.
All of the above will lead to unacceptable traffic congestion and potential safety issues for residents and other users of Skyline Place.
There are a considerable number of pedestrians already using Skyline Place and this will increase with further development. The increased traffic flows will cause further safety concerns for pedestrians crossing Skyline Place and the proposed raised pedestrian crossing near the entrance to Skyline Place will be a dangerous addition given the speed and lack of awareness of vehicles turning into Skyline Place from Frenchs Forest Road.
2.
Bulk and Scale - Building Heights and Density
The density of the proposed development is too much. 7 and 5 Skyline Place have an FSR of approximately 1.93:1 and the proposed development has an FSR of 2.66:1 for 3 Skyline Place and 2.15:1 for 1 Skyline Place. The density of the proposal is inappropriate and overdeveloped and should be similar to 7 and 5 Skyline Place (2.66 represents a 38% increase which is too much).
The building heights for the proposed development are excessive and inappropriate for the location. The development site is uphill and east of 7 and 5 Skyline Place and the RL’s of the proposed buildings are considerably higher than the buildings on 7 and 5 Skyline Place, creating overshadowing and overlooking issues.
Both 7 and 5 Skyline Place were approved after careful consideration by the Land and Environment Court, and this set a precedent for acceptable density and heights for Seniors living in this location. The proposed development significantly exceeds that precedent.
3.
Fire Safety Issues
The proposed heights of the buildings are inappropriate for Seniors. In a fire emergency the reduced mobility of a Seniors community creates challenges in escaping down the fire stairs. We have had approximately 5 fire emergencies in 18 months at 7 Skyline Place and exiting 5 levels has been difficult for many of our Seniors residents. Higher buildings would be even more inappropriate and increase safety risks.
Existing and proposed safe evacuation assembly points have not been considered in the proposal.
4.
Other Design Issues
In addition to the abovementioned issues, the design of the proposed development is inappropriate for the following areas:
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The provision of communal open space for the number apartments is inadequate.
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The layout of the buildings will create a wind tunnel along Skyline Place.
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The issue of safe pedestrian movements in Skyline Place and crossing Frenchs Forest Road has not been adequately considered. The hill up to the existing Romford Rd traffic lights is
challenging for many residents with reduced mobility. Consideration of traffic lights at the intersection of Skyline Place and Frenchs Forest Rd should be considered.
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50% of mature trees are to be removed which will adversely affect the birdlife and other environmental aspects of the Skyline Place locality. New plantings will take several years to be effective.
5.
Inadequate Engagement with the Existing Seniors Community
Community engagement with the existing Seniors community at 7 Skyline Place (Seniors prototype) was not adequately undertaken. Engagement sessions:
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Were performed after the design was complete and did not capture learnings from the first stage Seniors development at 7 Skyline Place about ageing in place.
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Were limited in information about the design details and did not enable meaningful input from residents about how the development may affect them.
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Did not occur in a timely manner (after the fact).
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Doubtful that the engagement sessions and notice of this development proposal was extended to the to purchasers of apartments in 5 Skyline Place (contracts exchanged).
We are generally supportive on Seniors housing developments similar to the type and scale of 7 Skyline Place, however, the proposed development is too intense, overdeveloped and unsafe and will adversely affect our Seniors community environment at Skyline Place.
In conclusion, for the abovementioned reasons, we wish to register a formal objection to the Development Application No. SSD-69850712 for 1-3 Skyline Place.