Mixed-use Development Mackenzie St, Lavender Bay

Submission attached

Please see attached the supporting documents on the shadow analysis pertaining to my submission

Dear Assessment Team,
Re: Mackenzie Street / St Francis Xavier development — SSD-88702457
I live on Union Street, a short distance from the proposed development. I support new housing and the renewal of existing buildings, but I am concerned about the scale of this proposal and its effect on the character of Lavender Bay.
As a designer, I appreciate the care needed to introduce new buildings into an established area. Lavender Bay is a special part of Sydney. Its historic homes, church, gardens and harbour views sit together in a way that residents and visitors value. New development can add to this, but it needs to respond thoughtfully to what is already here.
I am concerned that a 20-storey tower beside low-rise heritage homes would overwhelm that setting. The railway line creates a clear distinction between the taller buildings of North Sydney and the smaller scale of Lavender Bay. The proposed height and bulk do not seem to reflect that difference. Once this character is lost, we cannot get it back.
Parking is another concern. Street parking is already difficult, particularly on weekends when residents, churchgoers and visitors are all looking for spaces. Reducing the parking available to parishioners would put more pressure on Walker Street and the surrounding streets. I would like to see this properly addressed before any development proceeds.
I would support a smaller development that provides more housing while respecting the heritage buildings and the beauty of the area. A well-designed, lower-rise proposal could make a positive contribution without overwhelming its surroundings.
I ask the Department to require changes to the height, bulk and parking arrangements before approving this proposal.
Yours faithfully,
Claire Beavan

I attend this church weekly and the first negative impact to spring to my mind is the danger that will be caused by increased vehicles and cycles in both Mackenzie Steet and Miller Street which are already filled to capacity with parked cars.

• To predict more visitor and resident parking is unbelievable and unrealistic in these old narrow streets.

• The enormous overdevelopment proposed on the Francis Xavier site is just unacceptable. It will restrict sunlight and cause overshadowing especially for nearby residents.

• Height and density of the proposed development is not compatible with this site.

• The site lies within the Lavender Bay Conservation Area and is known for its heritage character.
It is charming and the historic character of this tourist destination, en-route to Wendy’s Garden and the harbour foreshore, will be lost forever.
Please, let’s not destroy all the character of our historic suburbs with overdevelopment. They will never be restored. They will never recover!

Submission of Jonathan Alford re: SSD-88702457 file attached

Please see my attached submission.

Katharine (Clare) Loewenthal

* Buildings too high for the area - inappropriate for the residential area - causing overshadowing
*Too many cars causing excess traffic and difficulty with parking ,plus affecting pedestrian safety
* spurious rezoning proposal for the suburban area will destroy the heritage character of the Lavender Bay area.
* old school house is heritage listed and should be preserved
* affordable housing only lasts for 15 years

I object to the development of Mackenzie Street of such a huge scale development for such a small suburb. The development for a 20 storey - 73.5 metre structure is higher than the existing planning controls and does not represent the existing and planned future character of Lavender Bay. The development would tower over the existing neighbourhood and surrounding residences. The heritage of St Francis Xavier Church and the former School House will be significantly impacted. I walk to North Sydney CBD for work and I find it such a safe and enjoyable walk along Miller Street and through St Peter's Park. With this development there will be more cars on the road and the surrounding streets will become more congested with traffic and make it more unsafe for pedestrians in the area. Also with every new development there is never enough onsite parking to cater for all residences so this will impact the surrounding street parking. I understand that there is a need for increased housing and affordable housing but at this vast scale it is not appropriate for such a small suburb.

Please see attached file.

# It currently a residential area and a 28 storey tower will ruin the Lavender Bay area
# McKenzie Street is dead end street at both ends, so excessive traffic, which this project enables, will just cause congestion
# the Old School house is heritage listed
# the logistics of the project will cause a massive upset for the existing residents in mc Kenzie Street

St Francis Xavier letter of objection .



This proposal falls outside accepted levels of scale and height . A brutalist approach that squeezes life out of our urban community setting .
It lacks sensitivity to the surrounding heritage and residential zone
In this area we nurture our respected precinct .

The proposal mentions that design was based on a 'transition' in building, height and impact as the precinct graduate through to the urban residential area .
This is not ' transitional' . .
Its extreme height and scale would suffocate the existing amenity of the area .
If it was to be ' transitional' , a genuine consideration of a step down in height and
bulk should be presented .
Please reconsider.
Of immediate concern :
•The excessive height and bulk
•Reduced solar access . My home's kitchen and relaxed living area currently has sun throughout the day . This will definitely be
impaired .
•Visual privacy . This proposed huge building looks straight INTO my living zone .
•Parking .... there is currently insufficient street parking in Lavender Bay .
Availability of street parking will disappear completely under this proposal
•traffic density ....this is a local street . not able to cope with an extra thoroughfare
flow of vehicles. Our local area is also heavily used and accessed by cyclists and pedestrians.

Please review the extreme scope of this project in every aspect .

Regards

Suzanne Lynch
18 Lavender St

Whilst the proposal does increase housing supply, including ''affordable housing'', in a location well serviced by public transport and other infrastructure, there are critical elements which I do not support. Principally:
- the western tower is too high
- the rezoning of what is clearly a mixed-use site to residential
- the loss of church parking.

Tower Height
The EIS states many times that the tower height marks a sensible transition from the North Sydney CBD to the Lavendar Bay Heritage Conservation Area (HCA). This is an opinion and is disputed. The proposed building will literally tower over the church and HCA. The transition argument is in many places based on a previous, taller, proposal for the 5 Blue street site; and generally, on future developments which have not been approved or indeed even reached the EIS stage. I also note that in order to deliver the 88-apartment tower, 43 existing modest apartments (3-4 storeys) will be demolished. That's a lot of extra height for only 45 extra apartments and is inappropriate. The EIS makes light of the additional overshadowing resulting from such a tall building - no fewer than 20% of neighbors will be affected to below the 3-hour standard, but apparently that's OK? The EIS also contains the absurd statement that the "church will remain the dominant architectural element within the street scape". I think the 20 storey tower right next to it will dominate!

Rezoning
I don't understand why a mixed use rezoning is not sought. Other SSDs in the area have done so. The EIS consistently refers to the project as a mixed use development but then seeks a residential zoning. Why?

Church parking
The proposal to create a pedestrian square where the current church car park sits is supported. But in doing so there is a material loss of parking dedicated for the congregation. The surrounding streets are already impossible for parking around the times of church services, so this seems a poor element of the proposal.

I have a further comment about parking more generally. There is very little spare on street parking at the moment (at any time) for visitors and trades. The proposal needs to include significant visitor parking on site rather than assume it can be absorbed by surrounding streets.

Finally, I do think the proposed elements behind the church and former school make a lot of sense. If the western tower where redesigned to be of similar height, then the problem of height transition to the HCA would be eliminated.

I object to SSD-88702457 because I believe the proposed scale would have a
significant negative effect on the character and public experience of Lavender Bay.
I am not a local resident, but I enjoy spending time in this part of Sydney. One of the
remarkable things about Lavender Bay is how quickly the city changes as you move
away from North Sydney.

North Sydney has the scale and intensity expected of a major commercial centre.
Lavender Bay offers something different: quieter streets, historic buildings, gardens,
lower-scale housing and a much stronger neighbourhood feeling.
That difference has value not only to people who own property there. It is part of
Sydney's wider urban and heritage character and is enjoyed by people who walk
through, visit friends, use the foreshore or simply spend time in the area.
Mackenzie Street feels like one of the first streets where this transition becomes
apparent.
I therefore find it difficult to understand how a 20-storey tower of approximately 70
metres can be described as an appropriate transition into Lavender Bay. A genuine
transition should involve buildings stepping down from the North Sydney CBD, not
continuing tower-scale development across the boundary.
I am not arguing that the site should never change. Additional housing, restoration of
the heritage buildings, improved landscaping, better use of existing parking areas
and appropriately scaled redevelopment could all provide benefits.
My objection is specifically to the scale of the current proposal.
Allowing towers to progressively move south because each new site is adjacent to
an existing taller building risks gradually eroding the very distinction between North
Sydney and Lavender Bay.
I ask the Department to refuse the proposal in its current form or require a
significantly lower and more context-sensitive design.

I object to project Number SSD-88702457 because I do not believe the impacts identified in the
projects own technical documentation support development of the scale proposed.
I am not a resident directly affected by the development, so my objection is not
based on a personal loss of view, sunlight or property value. My concern is the
broader planning outcome for Lavender Bay.
The proposal seeks a 20-storey tower of approximately 70 metres at the transition
between North Sydney and a lower-scale heritage neighbourhood.
The applicant's own studies identify a number of significant consequences. The
visual assessment acknowledges that the immediate environment has low capacity
to absorb development at close range because of its low-to-mid-rise and heritage
character.
The overshadowing assessment identifies additional shadow to neighbouring
properties, with approximately 20% of assessed neighbouring main living areas
falling below its three-hour solar-access criterion because of the development.
The transport assessment records on-street parking occupancy reaching 99% on a
Saturday.
The acoustic assessment predicts that residences across Mackenzie Street will
exceed the highly noise affected threshold during major construction activities.

None of these issues individually means the site cannot be redeveloped. Taken
together, however, they raise a reasonable question about whether the proposed
height and density are simply too great for this location.
I support additional housing and affordable housing, but those objectives should be
achieved through good planning and appropriate design. They should not mean that
substantial impacts must be accepted regardless of the scale proposed.
I ask the Department to require a materially lower and less intensive development
that retains the housing and heritage benefits while reducing the impacts identified
by the applicant's own assessments.

Please see submission attached.

I am objecting to this SSD on the terms contained in the attached letter.

I think we need a much clearer vision of how development in Sydney will impact us overall. I think this particular development clearly takes towers in North Sydney as permission to push further into residential. We stand to lose the character of the area, our human connection to buildings and surroundings. Cities are for people, I know we have a need to expand housing but I’m currently in Europe and taking note of how newer builds blend or excel architecturally to enhance what comes before it. I see zero aesthetic merit, loss of amenity, a dilution of the current flavour of the area, in fact I think it’s overwhelming and irresponsible to forsake existing residential in such a short sighted way. It we have to have towers then invite
Architects to moderate the decisions and aim to improve the city not bastardise it. I am wholly opposed to this particular plan as its scale is excessive, it’s unattractive and do we all want to walk around the base of it. I would say no. Let’s get more creative input into this surge of development. Take note of cities like
Oslo that do a magnificent job of providing housing that adds to the cityscape.

I object to this project in the strongest possible terms.
It is an encroachment of retail and highrise into the residential areas of Lavender Bay and McMahons Point.
Council is continue trying to enhance the 'village' atmosphere of Blues Point Road and this project is moving it away from that to allow it to become the opposite and become like the monstrosity of buildings in Milsons Point, all high and packed together.
My husband and I regularly attend mass at the Church and the reason we can go there is that there is parking and therefor my 91 year old husband can walk the short distance from the car to go to mass. With no parking available we will not be able to this.
The church and also other old buildings in the area will also be overshadowed.

I object to these buildings being built around St Francis Xavier Church which was built in 1856. It will overshadow the church and St Peters in Blues Point Road. As a regular church goer I will no longer have access to parking to attend church. And the worst is that 43 residents will be outcast from their low cost, central homes. Where will they go? They say there will be a % of affordable housing however this is only mandated for 15years and given some of the residencies are in a retirement village it is unlikely they will be able to ever come back.

I am a resident/owner of one of the neighbouring streets of the proposed development at Mackenzie St and strongly object to the project based on several reasons.

1. Solar access
The height of the proposed development will substantially impact solar access to my house, my neighbours’ properties on Wilona Avenue, and the surrounding streets. We already receive minimal sunlight during winter; however, this will be severely reduced by the height of the proposed building, which is many times taller than the existing building.

2. Parking and traffic
Parking on Mackenzie, Miller and Walker Streets is already very difficult every day, and particularly so on weekends. Adding such a large development without a proportional increase in parking spaces will increase congestion, traffic and risks to pedestrian safety.
Our private road, Wilona Avenue, already frequently has other road users parking on it and obstructing access to our properties. This situation will become exponentially worse with such a large development and the additional residents and visitors it will bring.
The proposed entryway is also very close to the corner of Mackenzie and Miller Streets. This area is frequently used as a pedestrian crossing because of the footpath leading towards North Sydney Train Station. Any traffic backing up onto the corner would create a significant hazard for pedestrians, particularly given the poor visibility at this intersection.

3. Conservation and heritage
Lavender Bay has a unique and beautiful streetscape, characterised by low-rise buildings that contribute significantly to its charm and heritage. This was one of the reasons we chose to move into the area, having purchased our home in December 2025.
We knowingly purchased a single-level terrace house within a Conservation Zone, understanding the restrictions this would place on future renovations. We did so because we strongly believe in preserving the beauty of the area’s historic architecture and streetscape.
Despite being so conveniently located in an inner-city area, Lavender Bay maintains a quiet, village-like character. The scale and height of the proposed development would fundamentally disrupt this character and significantly alter the streetscape that makes Lavender Bay such a special place to live.