Mixed use development including in-fill affordable housing - Five Ways, Crows Nest

I am amongst many local residents of Crows Nest that have been shocked to realise the height of the building proposal for the ‘Crows Nest Five Ways’ site. Currently the buildings on the site are of various levels but no more than 3 or 4 storeys. When I was informed that the height would be 16 storeys I was incredibly concerned and now that 23 storeys may go ahead (compared to nearby buildings which are 2-3 storeys on average) I have become very concerned for the spaces’ management, our quality of life and of living as locals.
The original 10 storeys would provide well-needed affordable housing but there is the collective concern about shadowing created by its height, creating a less inviting environment and negating the charm of the (predominantly) heritage-listed area as well as the continuously proven wind turbulence, cooling, and excessive heating caused by the presence of skyscrapers, overwhelmingly present in suburbs nearby like StLeonards and North Sydney.

regards,

Kate Sharma

This site has already recently been uplifted to allow 16 storeys having 129 apartments in accordance with the department's own strategic 2036 Plan.
• Height and overshadowing - My residential building will receive no morning sun in winter
• Bulk and scale and sight lines of such a long high wall without breaks fronting Pacific Highway and Alexander Street
• Concern that infrastructure - water, power, sewerage will be inadequate for increased population due to other developments already approved around metro
• Construction vehicles in local streets – in particular the number of truck trips required for the removal of excavation material for the proposed 7 level underground carpark
• Increased traffic congestion in Crows Nest
• Lack of Open Space: Insufficient infrastructure for the increased population.

I object to the proposal, as detailed in the Attachment.

Refer attached objection.
I also strongly object to the complete lack of thought for any play areas and open air or recreational spaces in these mixed use developments. Mixed use has been tried all over North Sydney and it doesn't work well. The retail below is often empty with high turnover of businesses. There is no parking for customers to attend these businesses. Why not use the so called retail spaces for playgrounds and play spaces (sports courts) for the residents above. The 5 Ways project is densifying to make space for families but zero consideration is given for green and open places/spaces for residents to get outside, relax and be with community. North Sydney Oval is the only true green space left in the LGA. In case no one noticed - we live on an ever-warming planet!

please see attached objection.

I object to this application & oppose the significant increase in height proposed by the developer .
This is not a site where the uplift in height enabled by the Affordable Housing Bonus should be allowed.This site has already been uplifted under the St Leonard’s Crows Nest Plan 2036 as recently as 3 years ago. This would result in potential problems for residents with respect to over sighting,overshadowing, traffic congestion, parking,overloading already limited green space to name a few.

I object to this application to significantly increase the height of the Five Ways development. It is totally out of scale and character with the local Crows Nest Village and Holtermann Estate. Its shadowing effect will be marked, extending into Hayberry St and North Sydney Girls' High School. And significantly, it is contrary to the commitment by the Department of Planning to lock in the 16 storeys that were in themselves an increase from the original 10.
The Five Ways intersection is already a very busy traffic zone and this proposed extension will exacerbate difficulties with traffic flow particularly along Alexander St. The increased pressure on parking spaces in the area is also inevitable despite the developer's assurances. The area is also projected to experience traffic congestion at the West Street end of the estate once the second harbour road tunnel is in operation. To be squeezed at the other end is unacceptable.
The developer should have taken their lead from the Bennelong Development on the corner of Falcon St and Alexander Lane. Extensive consultation with the local community was carried out to take into consideration all of our concerns about building heights, shadowing and traffic.
The proposal in this development to increase the building height by a ludicrous amount while dangling the carrot of affordable housing as a smokescreen to extract maximum profit from the site shows no understanding of our community and its character. If the developer was genuine about their social conscience, they would have provided an appropriate level of affordable housing in the 129 apartments of the 16 storey proposal.

Please see my attached submission objecting to this proposal

Height and overshadowing - this will block out direct light to where we live; construction vehicles in local streets leaving nowhere to park; increased traffic congestions in Crows Nest; building as planned is not appropriate for the site; building as planned will look out of place; bulk and scale and sight lines of such a long high wall without breaks fronting Pacific Highway and Alexander Street; wind impacts.
Proposal should be refused and lower level buildings only permitted.

Council, which represents us, has no say apparently:
They approved 6 storeys
Increased to 16 storeys by Dept of Planning, now
23 storeys in the submission under terms of providing affordable housing -
What price is affordable housing?
It’s sham
A shame also to be insensitive to village atmosphere, and causing-
Overshadowing - huge
Bulk, scale and unseemly sight lines
No open space provision
Sky line obliterated
No extra retail space required - already many retail spaces closed in Crows Nest
Already Crows Nest is a mess, pavements dug up continuously and inaccessible,
roads cut off
Agree, extra housing required, however why extend development to unacceptable height.
Spread the developments, medium density, rather than high density - sorry Mr Minns, you have it wrong, it seems you want to destroy the reason I love where I live.

Please find attached submission (objection) from North Sydney Council

As per - attachment - Hayberry Street will be severely affected by this Excessive height extension proposal

1. Height of the project to 23 storeys is far too high and not consistent with area. 16 storeys is acceptable. The project is on a hill and will affect ambulance helicopters to and from the local hospitals.
2. 23 storeys will increase the amount of overshadowing.
3. The local roads CANNOT handle the traffic now without adding another 191 apartments.
4. I don't believe the affordable housing will be affordable for those who need it so increasing that will not benefit anyone other than the developer.
5. There was not enough community consultation as it was done in January when most residents were on holidays. This is the first I had heard about the project and I live within a few streets of the project.
6. The traffic reports being done in COVID is a joke. Alexander Street is consistently blocked due to the Woolies development and the buses turning from Pacific Highway into Alexander Street will block the access to the development. Alexander Street does not cope now.

Attn: John Martinez

Charter Hall own 1 Willoughby Road Crows Nest where the Crows Nest Hotel is situated. Out tenants on this site have a licence to operate until 3am. As part of this licence they have taken steps to ensure noise does not disturb surrounding neighbours.

We note that as part of the proposed development an Acoustic Assessment (Appendix 28) has been developed to minimise noise levels from and also to minimise noise to new occupiers of the proposed development.

We respectfully request that adequate consideration be given to the acoustic levels and development measures put in place per Appendix 28 and higher controls if required, as part of the approval process to protect our tenant's right to operate as per their existing licence.

Regards
Dwayne Lord

I strongly object to the proposed development on the following grounds:

1) Its height and bulk is excessive for the site. It contravenes recent advice sought by the Department of Planning from the Government Architect who recommended a maximum height of 16 stories. It also contravenes key principles of the 2036 St Leonards Crows Nest Plan that building heights transition down the height of the 'over Crows Nest Metro Station' development.

2) The meagre provision for affordable housing for only 15 years contributes insufficient public / social benefit to offset the huge loss of amenity to the existing community from the proposed 22 stories. A large number of properties to the east, west and south will be affected by overshadowing, loss of solar access, loss of privacy, light pollution at night and so forth. This is extremely unfair, especially to those people who have recently bought into the area / undertaken renovations / made other long term decisions concerning their housing in good faith based on Department of Planning policies. This kind of arbitrary policy change without meaningful community consultation only serves to further undermine public confidence and trust in the Government's planning processes.

3) Traffic in Alexander Street is already frequently gridlocked. Additional traffic emanating from such a large development will significantly exacerbate the existing chaos and associated adverse social, environmental and productivity effects .

4) The Five Ways intersection is notoriously windy in many common wind conditions (e.g, strong North Easterly, Southerly and Westerly winds). The excessive height of the proposed development will significantly exacerbate the existing wind tunnel effects, making life difficult (to the point of dangerous) for elderly / infirm / very young pedestrians.

5) Crows Nest-St Leonards' substantial population increase over recent years has far-outpaced the provision of essential community infra-structure such as informal open space and playing fields. The excessive size of the proposed development will contribute further to this severe shortfall, detrimentally affecting community well-being.

6) To the best of my knowledge, no meaningful action is underway to ensure that existing pressures on other essential infrastructure (e.g. water, sewerage, schools) will be addressed prior to the further substantial population associated with the proposed development - and presumably the cumulative effect of other developments planned for the Pacific Highway at Crows Nest. This is very poor planning practice and should be addressed immediately - certainly prior to the approval of yet another apartment tower .

See uploaded document for objection.

I object to the proposal to increase the height of the above site from 16 storeys to 22 storeys on a site bounded by the Pacific Highway, Alexander Street and Falcon Street, a major intersection area. It is quite inappropriate.
The submission by Wollstonecraft Precinct covers the proposal thoroughly and has my full support but my own objections can be summarised as follows:
1. There has been a fight over many years by residents, of whom I am one, over the heights of the buildings over the Metro station, and now there is another over this site. At the heart of it all is the greed of the developer and forget about the locals .The Government Architect decreed 16 storeys appropriate for the site - why is this raised plan being considered at all? There is talk about community consultation but I have yet to see it put into practice.
2 Why is the affordable housing only available for 15 years? Why not permanently? Where do the people go when the 15 years are up? It will be another problem for another government.
3. When we did a small residential extension, we had to provide a shadow diagram showing how it would affect our neighbours on either side of us - two families. Has any consideration been given to the overshadowing of neighbouring homes that would result from this building?
4. At present, Crows Nest is struggling to cope with traffic problems. Alexander Street from the Highway to Falcon Street is difficult at any time of the day. Today traffic blocked the Burlington Street roundabout in all directions around 3.30pm. How construction trucks will be managed, as well as allowing local traffic to get about, will be a big challenge. Has any thought been given to how it will be met?
5. What is the local community being offered by the developer in exchange for the disruption and aggravation this development will cause? Are they contributing anything to the community?
So many people are involved in battling against rampant development, not only in Crows Nest but around Sydney generally. Before the Government agrees to anything a developer proposes, the relevant department should be looking into making sure that developers can't do shoddy work and expect others to clean up after them. Buying a unit these days carries the underlying concern of incompetent workmanship and consequent added financial burdens to the unfortunate buyer.
Sharon Conner.

I OBJECT to this proposal.

This is based on the size/height of the proposed development and the negative impacts it will have:

INCREASE IN HEIGHT and FLOOR SPACE
The site has already been the subject of significant uplift in height and floor space as a result of the government-led 2036 Plan gazetted on 29 August 2020.

In 2020, the department of planning asked for and received from the government architect, advice on the most appropriate development including height for the site. The height recommended was 16 storeys. The proposed height and size is too large.

EFFECT ON TRAFFIC IN LOCAL AREA
The possible maximum of 328 parking spaces in the development will inevitably worsen the already heavily backed-up traffic in Alexander and Falcon Streets, and also at the Pacific Highway intersections.

NO OPEN SPACE
The development does nothing to help the current shortage of open space in the area, and the through walkways in the three-level podium is not exclusive to the height of this new proposal. It would be the same for the 16-storey proposal.

INADEQUATE PROVISION FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING
I object to the affordable housing apartments being able to be sold off without having to remain as affordable housing. This is NOT solving the medium to long-term housing problems.
The affordable housing calculation ought only be applied to the residential component of the building.

FINALLY
I fully SUPPORT the WOLLSTONECRAFT PRECINCT SUBMISSIONS written by John Hancox.

SSD-66826207 – Fiveways Site including affordable housing - OBJECTION