Mod 13 - New Hotel & Apartments

I support this development as I believe that it will continue to add to
the amenity of the area both for residents and visitors. Also the
quality of the proposed development is in keeping with ensuring that
the area continues to improve the dining and entertaining options for
residents and I believe will add value to the area.

I think the addition of a world-class hotel and associated F&B outlets
will positively add to the amenity of Pyrmont. The building design
looks iconic and will be a great addition to the neighbourhood.

The only mitigation that I regard as important is that the current
restrictions on operating hours and noise in general and, in
particular, on amplified music audible externally, should be
maintained.

OBJECTION - RITZ-CARLTON TOWER DEVELOPMENT - STAR CASINO.

As a local resident and property owner very nearby the The Star Casino
and site of the proposed development, I wish to lodge an objection
primarily because of the hight of the proposed structure (over 200m,
or about three times the height of any other local structure), which
is totally out of scale of buildings in the surrounding environment
and totally out of character with the local streetscape and
environment and the local village character. I believe that the height
of the proposed tower is also in contravention of the Sydney Local
Area Environmental Plan and Pyrmont Master Plan.

The addition of so many extra hotel rooms and serviced apartments, as
well as other patrons of the new facility, will exacerbate traffic
congestion and the already constrained street parking situation in the
area. Congestion will worsen during both the construction period and
after opening.

The height of the structure will also cast a shadow over a very wide
arc of the surrounding neighbourhood.

The increased patronage will also create additional crowding and
nuisance and further detract from the ambience of the local
neighbourhood.

I would urge the Department and the minister to reject the
application.

I strongly object to the Star Casino Modification 13 Building Application
for the following reasons:
Proposed height of Tower contravenes height restrictions for buildings
on the foreshores of the Pyrmont precinct. Currently, all buildings
within the Star Casino complex are 70 metres tall and all surrounding
buildings are low rise of no more than 6 stories. The proposed Tower
will be 237 metres. The visual impact on the entire Pyrmont area will
be overwhelming.
Traffic on Pirrama Road which is already gridlocked on Friday and
Saturday nights due to events at The Casino will be vastly impacted.
The current Modification adds a Porte Cochere for the proposed Ritz
Carlton Hotel and an additional exit point for "the service road" onto
Pirrama Road near the Channel 7 building. There are already two
entrance/exit points on Pirrama Road which serve the Star Casino and
these will continue to be accessible. The Star states that the traffic
impact will be less at the intersection of Pyrmont Bridge Road and
Pirrama Road; this is an impossible scenario under these
circumstances. Pirrama Road already serves as thoroughfare for many
commercial and residential buildings and is for the most part a single
lane dual roadway: adding 220 hotel rooms, 204 residential apartments,
204 car park spaces and a 35% increase in existing Casino floor area,
all accessed from Pirrama Road, will make the commute to commercial
offices and residences in the area very difficult on all days.
The Light Rail is already stretched beyond capacity most days and it
is most unlikes that guests of the Ritz Carlton and the proposed
additional residences will be patrons of public transport: add
limousines, private cars and buses to an already crowded single lane
dual roadway, and the immediate precinct will be a bottleneck.
There is some dispute as to whether Modification 13 requires a whole
new Development Application with appropriate certification since no
tower building was stated originally, especially considering the
proposed tower also includes private residences and a car park
stacker; these amenities are well beyond the scope of gaming and
associated services.

As a resident of Pyrmont, I am supportive of this proposal as it provides
a number of social and environmental benefits. I'm not concerned about
the height of the building because I am impressed with the design -
it's a building for the 21st century.

Furthermore I believe the proposal will:

* Achieve sustainability best practice outcomes and will improve the
energy efficiency of The Star.
* Enhance the Pyrmont peninsular in terms of built form, streetscape
and public domain. The proposal is a result of a robust design
excellence process, and will create a landmark, development that
contributes positively to the overall architecture of the city.
* Provide positive accessibility outcomes as the design of the
residential tower provides 20% `Universal Design' units and 15%
`Adaptable Units', which will enable occupants to continue living in
the same home as their mobility needs change.
* Will encourage public transport use and active transport activity,
due to improvements to vehicle, pedestrian and cycle access, and
upgrades to the light rail interchange. The proposed Level B2
Interchange improvement works will support sustainable transport by
making access to and from the light rail station easier to access
* The Proposal will improve the pedestrian and bicycle access to and
from the site, and improve the site's connection to the CBD along the
Pyrmont Bridge and Darling Drive cycleways, which are identified as
part of the strategic cycleway network in the Sydney City Centre
Access Strategy
* Provide a Neighbourhood Centre which will deliver a significant
social benefit on the site and Pyrmont locality by providing a diverse
range of social spaces for use by the local community
* Will remove 24 of the existing 72 trees in the area, but I
understand that all of these trees will be replaced and the
replacement trees will be species that will be larger at maturity than
the existing ones.
* Have positive economic benefits for the Pyrmont area, and the wider
Sydney metropolitan area and NSW generally, and will provide local
employment opportunities and greater housing choice.

I believe this modification will have a significant impact on the
surrounding area. It will block views of the skyline for multiple
existing buildings in the area as well as interfering with current
light levels to these buildings. Traffic around the casino is already
very disrupting during peak times, the introduction of the proposed
hotel/residence will increase this further and push the existing road
infrastructure to the limit.

Department of Planning and Environment
GPO Box 39
Sydney NSW 2001

Attn: Matthew Rosel
Re: MP08_0098 - Modification 13 - Construction of a new hotel and
residential tower and alterations to existing building

Dear Matthew
I live in Pyrmont and I am writing to support the above proposal for
the following reasons:
The Star has a proven record for supporting our local community and
giving back
* The Star have been and will continue to be a good proactive
neighbour with the Star contributing to our local community by
supporting local activities, charity and community groups. I applaud
the business for wanting to invest in the local area which will bring
positive economic benefits
* To have a neighbourhood centre with tech hub, library, community
space and function centre demonstrates that this development will be
used by locals as a bolt on to the existing infrastructure which is at
capacity
* I am very pleased to see that The Star is proposing that the new
centre be jointly managed by it and a community advisory committee.
The Star team seems to be genuine in its commitment to work with the
community on this plan.
We need to progress and be visionaries toward a world class city
* As Pyrmont has changed over the past 40 years, this construction I
strongly feel is the next phase in the evolution of the area into a
world class scalable city. The tower, as designed, will be an icon in
the city skyline and a beacon for both tourists and locals and will be
something that Sydney will be proud of.
* With other developments already happening at Barangaroo and Darling
Harbour, and the new Sydney Fish Market being planned, we need to make
sure we remain a part of this exciting emerging locality west of the
CBD.
* The Ritz-Carlton, the proposed operator of the hotel, is a
well-known and respected brand that we would welcome to Pyrmont. While
there are other hotels in the area, the introduction of this luxury
brand will raise the overall standard of accommodation on offer.
* We can't stand still, and we want to share our great community and
neighbourhood with others. Let's put Pyrmont on the map.
More affordable housing
The residential component of the development will mean that affordable
housing providers in the inner city will benefit. There is already a
shortage of affordable housing in this area, so anything that can be
done to increase the amount of affordable housing is a good thing.
Upgraded light rail interchange
The light rail interchange needs an upgrade, particularly since the
opening of the new ICC and the increased patronage on the light rail.
More and more people are travelling on the light rail for work and to
visit the tourist hot spots, and a better light rail interchange will
improve the experience and efficiency for everyone.

In closing I strong support this proposal.
Kind regards,

International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney) is Australia's
premier convention, exhibition and entertainment venue. Situated in
the heart of Darling Harbour, ICC Sydney is a beacon of innovation,
knowledge sharing and entertainment, and acts as a connection point
for the brightest minds and industry leaders from across the world.

Since ICC Sydney opened in December 2016, Sydney has experienced very
high occupancy rates. Successfully bidding and attracting major
national and international conventions to the city is very dependent
on the availability of hotel rooms and the current environment has
impacted our ability to win such events. As a result, the city of
Sydney does not benefit from the important economic, social and
environmental contribution these events have on the community.

ICC Sydney very strongly welcomes and supports the development of
Ritz-Carlton hotel by The Star Group, and endorse the approval of such
an important development.

I live directly opposite the proposed development.
I appreciate the scale of the building but believe it has been
thoughtfully designed minimising any negative impact on surrounding
buildings and areas.
I support this proposal and think it would be good for the
neighbourhood. I am glad the Neighbourhood Centre is part of the
proposal and think this will be a great addition to the local
community.

I'd like to see an environmental impact assessment before this is
approved. Pyrmont is already Australia's highest density suburb. Lord
Clover Moore and Tanya Pilbersek, please consider the increased
traffic congestion, social cohesion and community both noise and
physical impacts before approving this development. I am against this
development.

I am concerned for 2 reasons:
1) this monstrosity is absolutely out of place for the current look
and feel of a suburb like Pyrmont
2) our building, the Palladium, currently receives very little sun
during the winter. In our specific case, during winter mornings we
have to rely on a reflection of the sun from the opposite windows.
This gigantic tower will take even that away from us, foreshadowing
the facade due to its height.
Please do not let this go ahead

I am led to believe that when The Star was allowed to be built on the
previous Pyrmont Power Station site, it was on the condition that it
would be no taller than the existing roofline of the power station.
The new tower is considerably taller than the original roofline and
does not comply with the original condition and intent of the build.

The new tower dwarves every other building in the Pyrmont and
surrounding Western suburbs and is wildly out of keeping with the
area. The architectural design is also characterless and lacking in
classical features, meaning the chance of it being outdated, and
becoming a mere landmark which is both disappointing and regrettable
in the near future is very high. Public opinions similar to this have
already been reflected against the recent development n some parts of
Barangaroo, similar to that proposed in this modification in the way
that they are both lacking in classic features.

The height will cause issues with creating wind tunnel effect and
reduce amount of sunlight reaching areas around the new tower. There
are areas in the vicinity that already do not get sufficient sunlight
due to taller buildings around and this tower will make it worse.

With the current population density, buses in the Pyrmont area get
full in peak hour. Passengers waiting at bus stops further down have
sometimes been unable to get on. Evening peak time is often worse and
the light rail capacity is also close to full during peak hours.

The traffic impact assessment does not take into account that a not
inconsiderable amount of hotel guests will stay for work purposes in
addition to the apartment residents, meaning they will pose additional
burden to the already struggling public transport especially during
the peak hours.

Traffic in Pyrmont during rush hour is already nearing capacity. There
are frequent traffic jams on Harris Street and Pyrmont Bridge Road.
With the increased traffic brought by this development it is going to
have a negative impact on the local areas, both in terms of road
safety and community experience.

Currently there is frequent and excessive noise from cars due to
visitors to the Star driving vehicles with very loud engines,
especially during the evenings and the weekends. Local residents have
been woken up in the early hours of the morning and it is a frequent
occurrence.

The social impact assessment has overlooked the issue completely by
stating that the primary noise source is not the Star Casino. This
statement, whereas true, appears to be providing facts and assessing
the impacts in a manner biased towards the successful approval to the
modification. It fails to acknowledge that the visitors to the Star
Casino and its hotels are often the source of noise, albeit not on the
Casino's premise.

The assessment on crime rate also does not address the concern that
increased amount of visitors (non-residents) will increase the
potential for more crimes to be committed. The currently tolerable
crime rate is not a reason to accept a potential increase.

This new development will only serve to worsen this problem with
seemingly no mechanism available to address the issue.

Pyrmont is already one of the most densely populated suburbs in
Greater Sydney. Another 200+ apartments coupled with the current
residential accommodation construction already underway will swell
population to more than local services and public transport can cope
with.

Planned 12 Special noise events per calendar year means Pyrmont
residents will be potentially subjected to constant noise during the
weekends and extra noise every single month. Other construction
activities currently ongoing in the area has already been generating
noise to a level that is unpleasant and frustrating to the local
residents, especially those who work from work.

For the various reasons mentioned above, I hereby express my objection
to the approval of this modification.

Although I am not against the construction of a hotel tower in principal
the sheer magnitude of it (65 floors) seems excessive for a
predominantly residential area and disproportionate for its
surroundings as it will tower above all other buildings in the area.
The highest residential towers in the Jackson Landing area are
approximately 20 floors and this proposed tower will be about 3/4 as
tall again as the current tallest building in Darling Harbour, the
Sofitel hotel.

I am also concerned about the disruption to the surrounding roads and
access to Darling Island Road during the (estimated 4 years)
construction period with the proposed site being right on the Pirrama
Road roundabout. Road traffic is often congested in Pyrmont along
Point Street and having additional construction traffic in the area
will make things considerably worse. The only access to the numerous
residents in Darling Island Road (as well as the businesses in the
area located in the Fairfax building) is via the Pirrama Road
roundabout and I cannot see how such a large construction project
taking place in that location on such a small footprint can be managed
without considerable disruption. Residents of the Darling Island
Apartments have already had road closures and disrupted access for the
last 12 months as a result of the building works at the Revy
apartments and the new construction at the Star is likely to have a
significantly greater effect.

Dear Sir/Madame,

I would like to add my objections to the modification request
submitted by The Star City Casino (MP 08_0098 MOD 13).

I have lived in Pyrmont for over ten years and the village atmosphere
is one of the suburbs endearing and highly valued qualities.
Obviously, The Star City Casino wish to compete with Crown at
Barangaroo, however a `bigger is better' mentality is not at all in
keeping with the Pyrmont location and it is unreasonable to foist a
building of this size and nature on the local community.

1) The proposed hotel will exceed the current height of any of the
existing buildings in the local area by a considerable margin thus
impacting significantly on the immediate and mid-range neighbours. The
visual amenity and local/community vibe of Pyrmont will be
significantly and negatively impacted. Pyrmont is not part of the
Sydney CBD and the addition of a building of this excessive scale is
ludicrous. My balcony will be looking directly at what can only be
described as a giant monstrosity.
2) The Pyrmont area is already quite noisy. We already have problems
with casino patrons making excessive noise outside the casino (as well
as littering) and I expect this will only get worse if the
modification request is allowed.
3) Design: The proposed design is unbelievably obtrusive. The proposed
height of the hotel will dominate the Pyrmont suburb. Looking at the
drawings the design is heavy and the building appears to be
over-scaled for the area it is to occupy. The bulky design is also at
odds with the surrounding village landscape.
4) Parking and Traffic congestion: There will be significant parking
and traffic impact with the surrounding street already gridlocked on
Friday and Saturday nights. It appears very little provision has been
made for this with the addition of only 204 parking spaces.
Undoubtedly, the overflow will flood into the surrounding residential
streets.

In short, I do not believe the proposed development is socially or
environmentally responsible. It's a greedy attempt to keep pace with
Crown at Barangaroo with no consideration for the local community in
Pyrmont.

Thank you for your consideration. You are welcome to contact me for
discussion on the matter.

Yours sincerely,

Dear Sir/Madame,

I would like to add my objections to the modification request
submitted by The Star City Casino (MP 08_0098 MOD 13).

I visited the Exhibition at Star Casino Saturday morning (15th
September) at 9:40am and it was not open despite the fact it is
supposed to be open at 9am. I had to revisit later in the day. If the
casino can't man the exhibition during the advertised opening hours I
have my doubts whether they will be able to make a success of such a
grand redevelopment.

My main objection to the modification request is the proposed height
of the hotel. It is simply outrageous that they would propose such a
building be dumped in the middle of what is a beautiful inner city
community based suburb. The proposed height far and away exceeds the
height of any of the existing buildings in the local area and is
frankly ridiculous. Such as building would be an unmitigated blight on
the landscape and local community ruining the visual amenity and
community vibe.

In addition the proposed hotel brings with it issues including traffic
congestion (which is already bad), noise and parking problems. None of
these issues seem to have been adequately dealt with as part of the
Casino's submission.

I object to the modification request as I believe it is irresponsibly
from a social and community perspective.

Thank you for your consideration. I trust that common sense prevails.

Yours faithfully,

I write to offer my support for this development. I believe this will be
good for Sydney as the city but also for the local area of Pyrmont
which is fast becoming a hub for tourism, technology and arts.
Furthermore, it is great to see the community being supported with the
new community centre.

I appreciate the building itself will stand out in terms of its height
but I also believe this is needed in order make iconic add value to
Sydney's skyline

The environmental and social impacts of the proposed modification breach
key sections of the
Sydney Regional Environmental Plan No 26 City West Ultimo-Pyrmont
Precinct Environmental
Planning and Assessment Act 1979.
For example;
Division 3 Planning principles for Precincts
Part 1 Ultimo -Pyrmont Precinct
Role and Land Use Activities
Urban Design
Building heights are to reflect and emphasise the topography of the
Precinct by increasing in height as distance increases from the
nearest waterfront. Building heights should allow a reasonable sharing
of distant views from buildings by
their occupants.The heights and scale of buildings are to form a
transition between the high-rise buildings in the city and low-rise
buildings in the suburbs adjoining the Precinct.
The heights and scale of new buildings are to respect existing
buildings in the locality, particularly heritage items and buildings
in conservation areas.
Sydney Regional Environmental Plan No 26 City West Clause 15
The heights and form of buildings are to take account of visual
impact, solar access, wind impact and, where appropriate, the privacy
of residences, in order to contribute to a high quality of
environmental amenity in intensively used parts of the public domain
and in residential areas.
Buildings fronting the public domain should have appropriate height,
bulk,finish and street alignment so as to enhance its quality by
respecting its character. In general the scale of street facades must
respect the width of adjoining streets or lanes, adjoining heritage
items or other contextual elements.
Higher buildings may be accommodated:
* if they will emphasise existing or former high points in the natural
ground level on Distillery Hill, Pyrmont Point, Darling Island and
adjoining the CSR Stables, they will reflect the former vertical
smoke-stack elements of the Pyrmont Point Power Station, or they will
provide a suitable axial focal point in the vista down Liverpool
Street, and
* if they will not compromise the environmental amenity and general
scale of development in their locality.
Development on the waterfront and on adjoining land is to maximise the
environmental quality of those parts of the peninsula for all users.
COMMENT
It is submitted that the smoke stacks of the Pyrmont Point Power
Station never approached the scale of the proposed 237 m tower.

Public Domain
'The passage of through motor traffic in residential areas and areas
of pedestrian
and cycling priority is to be discouraged.'
COMMENT
The section in the proposed developments impact on motor traffic is
laughable. Our apartment in 1 Murray street overlooks the traffic
access to Pirrama Road. Traffic banking up waiting for access to the
casino is already a serious problem on busy nights. The projected
volumes will result in gridlocked traffic extending well back past the
Pyrmont Bridge traffic lights.
SUMMARY
I suspect my submission like those of many other residents will be a
complete waste of time. Clearly the Star City Casino is destined to
totally dominate the Pyrmont peninsular to the serious detriment of
the areas residential character and the well being of its residents.

I write to object to the proposed hotel and residential tower on the Star
City Casino site and to request that the project not be allowed to
proceed.

The proposed tower fails to comply with height, floor space ratio and
zoning requirements of the Sydney Local Environment Plan (LEP) 2012.
In addition the proposed 215 metre height of the tower would represent
a huge increase on what currently exists on the site. If it is allowed
to proceed the project would break promises, made to the community and
residents when the casino was first approved, that stated it would
never exceed the height of the stacks of the Pyrmont Power Station,
which was previously located at the site.

If the proposed tower is allowed to go ahead it will cause significant
impacts for residents in Pyrmont including the overshadowing of homes,
major sunlight reflection/glare onto residences across the entire
suburb, the creation of wind tunnels and the interruption to community
harbour views.

The site is zoned commercial, which does not permit residential
apartments and given Pyrmont is already the most densely populated
suburb in Australia, there is no public benefit for including
residential apartments on the site . Rather further increasing the
residential population of Pyrmont will add additional strain on public
infrastructure that is already stretched to the limit. Open space,
public transport, roads and parking, and services like schools will
simply not be able to cope.

Anti social behaviour has, over recent years, steadily increased in
the streets surrounding The Star and regularly disrupts residents.
There is significant traffic congestion most evenings on the
peninsular due to the large number of patrons driving to The Star.
Increasing patron numbers further, and combining that with a
significant increase in residential vehicles as well, which is what
will occur should this proposed tower be built, will undoubtedly
negatively impact the living conditions of existing residents of
Pyrmont.

As a longtime Pyrmont residential property owner and resident I am
horrified that this submission has been lodged. It is totally
unsuitable for the proposed location and should not be allowed to
proceed. If this proposal is allowed to proceed it will simply
evidence the level of greed and corruption in NSW Government and
highlight the ad hoc nature of 'planning', or lack thereof, for the
City of Sydney. I do not imagine my objections will be listened to,
but I felt compelled to make them given the totally over-the-top and
unsuitable nature of this proposal.

We strongly object to this massive development which does not fit in with
the surrounding areas of Pyrmont. This will become a president for
future development and will entirely ruin Pyrmont as we know it. This
NSW government is bent on destroying the beautiful city of Sydney with
over development, giving no consideration to people who have lived
here for many years.

I oppose the construction/extension of the Star casino. Having a project
of this magnitude will irrevocably change the character of the area we
live in without benefit for the local community. Pyrmont is not ready
to handle so much more traffic and the life of the local population
will be greatly impacted in a negative way.