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

22 storeys is too great and will overshadow all the new residential developments along Falcon Street, Alexander Street and Pacific Highway. The height of the building will create a wind tunnel like the wind tunnel that has been created in St Leonards. It will ruin the village atmosphere along Willoughby Road with its outdoor eateries. There is not enough provision of affordable units and too much space allocated for commercial use. The demand for commercial space has dropped off drastically. This space should be used to provide more affordable units. 22 storeys is out of character for Crows Nest. It is not a CBD. Reduce the height of the development.

I am writing this to thoroughly object to the construction of the development at Five Ways here in Crows Nest at least in its current form. My major issue with the proposed building of 22 storeys of space is that it runs a high risk of worsening the wind problem that currently plagues St Leonards and expand the wind tunnel created there further down the road and creating new wind tunnels in residential areas such as along Falcon Street. My second issue with the proposal is the fact that the proposed height, again of 22 storeys, simply does not fit in with the area of Five Ways and by extension Crows Nest and would ruin the skyline, instead being more suited for an area such as North Sydney. The height would also have the big issue of shadowing residential houses and businesses along the Highway, Hayberry Street, and Bruce Street leaving the houses and businesses cold, uninviting, and in virtual 24/7 darkness in some spots, primarily along the Highway. If the proposal were to regrettably be approved, I think it should be lowered to the heigh of Woolworths and no higher to better fit in with the Five Way and Crows Nest area and hopefully minimise the creation of a wind tunnel in the area like the one in St Leonards. Otherwise I believe that the proposal should be dropped and the focus should be on making the already existing shops in the area more appealing or at the very least into lower rise housing, again no taller than the existing Woolworths carpark.

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to support the proposed mixed-use development at Five Ways, Crows Nest. This project offers significant benefits:

1. Prime Location:
The site is just 300 meters from the future Crows Nest Metro station, providing excellent connectivity and encouraging public transit use.

2. Housing Supply:
The project will deliver 191 new units, essential for meeting Sydney’s housing targets.

3. Affordable Housing:
The inclusion of 33 affordable housing units (15% of the total) is commendable. This development is among the first to use the NSW Government’s Infill Affordable Housing Bonus, allowing for a 30% height increase in exchange for affordable housing.

4. Mixed-Use Benefits:
This development will create a vibrant community with a mix of residential and commercial spaces, fostering local economic activity and social cohesion.

5. Support for Essential Workers:
Affordable housing ensures essential workers can live close to their workplaces, enhancing community resilience.

This development offers critical housing in a prime location and supports essential workers. I urge the NSW planning authorities to approve this project.

Sincerely,

Ben Cullen

I am in complete support of this development. Most notably, the:

191 new units

15% affordable housing component

Mixed-use development top of the future metro station

This development will gives hundreds of people the chance to live close to work and shops, including essential workers for the RNSH and general health precinct.

I urge the government to support this project in its entirety.

I would like to mention that I am highly favorable to this project as we need to increase housing density for more affordable living. The Affordable housing component is especially important

refer attached

Crows nest is a established area where public transports and infrastructure already well established, it does make sense to pursue the development in this area.

I strongly support this project. Crows Nest will have its own metro station, and will be really close to important city centres like Sydney CBD, North Sydney and Chatswood. We need to build more housing in areas like this, where people want to live. Please approve this project. Thank you so much.

This is a much needed project to revitalise an under-utilised space in the heart of Crows Nest. The current site lacks soul, and it's dark and depressing and creates many dark and unsafe corners in the evening. A few considerations I'd like to see reflected in the proposal:
- The corner of Falcon Street and Pacific Highway should have a statement presence providing a similar visual language to other sites on the corner, particularly with the heritage listed old bank building, Crows Nest Hotel, and the Art Deco building.
- Sight lines of the podium should reflect the surrounding building lines
- There's a bus stop on the Pacific Highway side. There should be enough space to accommodate a passenger waiting area and shelter from rain

As previously notified several times in the past this 'project' should be strongly opposed .
The buildings size and scope is well beyond what is currently legally allowed and could be possibly supported by present and future infarstructure.
1. Particularly problematic will be the 191 additional vehicles exiting and entering an already congested Alexander Street several times a day, As the gridlock which occurred on Thursday 16th May in this area illustrated, there is not the capacity for the number of current vehicles in this area.
2. Even if there were no parking at all, it is unclear how the increased volume of pedstrains could be accommodated on the narrow pavements, already very busy, along Alexander Street and to a lesser extent Falcon Street.
3. The extreme height of the building, essentially a very large tower, will result in severe overshadowing , wind tunneling and loss of solr access to those residents, businsesses and pedestrians South and West of the building.
4. There remains an excess of retail and commercial buildng in the vicinity, as can be evidenced by the number of closed businesses in the area and vacant business units at street and first floor level. In part this relates to 'construction anxiety', with repeated, government enforced breaches of council regulations and govenrment guidelines leading to 'flight' of locals businesses and their customers.
5. The carrot of 'affordable' housing will slowly evaporate or at best be severely watered diown once 'approval' has been forced through.
6. Similar very high towers have been forced through on Pacific highway, yet Deicorp are seeking to push through this massive addituional development with reference to current severe congestion and overcrowding , in isolation.

Attached submission from Bike North.

My reasons for objecting to the proposed development are included in the attached submission.

We need another Islamic school in this area.

Please see submission attachment

Please see submission attachment

The amended application does not address the numerous problems with the proposed development.
In particular:

1) It is inconsistent with the TOD guidelines for Crows Nest, thus contravening assurances provided by NSW Dept of Planning Staff at recent community consultation sessions that all proposals would be required to adhere to the TOD guidelines.

2) The Affordable Housing allocation is for a limited time only - not in perpetuity as we were assured at the TOD community consultations referred to in the previous point - and thus will be of only limited social / community benefit. The private benefit to the developer, on the other hand, remains excessive in comparison.

3) The building height remains excessive. (Why, for example, is the podium level needed?) Consequently, the resultant overshadowing of surrounding streets and residences remains excessive.

4) The amount of parking is also excessive given the close proximity to excellent public transport and which, after all, is the stated rationale for such an oversized development.

Please note that I support the detailed submission prepared by Wollstonecraft Precinct.

Please see the attached.

See submission attached

I object to this proposal for the following reasons:

• It is not consistent with the recently developed TOD guidelines for Crows Nest.
• The Affordable Housing included in this proposal is not in perpetuity and does not truly address the need for such housing. Affordable housing must be in perpetuity as otherwise government is just kicking the can down the road.
• The height of the building and amount of parking provided remains excessive.
• There is nothing in this proposal for the community as all the benefits appear to flow to the developer. The development which will house about 350 residents will add more demand for open and recreational space which is almost non-existent within walking distance.

I support the detailed submission prepared by Wollstonecraft Precinct.