Novus on Albert - 763-769 Pacific Highway, Chatswood - Build-to-Rent

I reside in Eddy Rd Chatswood and Its traffic hell already in that area especially turning right at the lights from pacific hwy to albert ave. and right from albert ave to Pacific hwy. Also from Centennial ave to Highway. Further adding to the chaos are the morning and evening manual lane changes. There have been pedestrian fatalities and severe injuries and car accidents here. This road junction supports a mass of high rise apartments west of the highway. Please Willoughby council members stand up. No more residential high rise we are already at critical mass with traffic gridlock in this immediate road junction. The any residential development must be reduced significantly and the facade of the historic building should be kept.

The proposal in its current form is not supported.

See attached detailed submission

I am writing this submission on behalf of my wife who is the legal owner of 72 Ashley Street Chatswood 2067.
We are not objecting to the concept of "build to rent".
However we are very concerned and are raising an objection to the fact that only the provision for 53 car spaces is being made for a building with 198 apartments or just under 27%. It is not hard to imagine demand for car spaces well beyond this with many families having more than one vehicle. Given this, it is reasonable to expect demand for in excess of 100 additional on street 24/7 car spaces in and around the development. Yes residents will walk 10 to 15 mins each way to avoid $100s of parking fines to park in un- restricted parking streets like Ashley Street and similar streets.
Our streets will become choked with cars owned by non-rate payers which is a sub-optimal outcome. Surely the developer has the opportunity to produce a better outcome for all during construction.

We thank you for your consideration.

Daniela Papa and Gavan Potter

I object to the demolition of the heritage listed fire station. This is an eye catching historical landmark on Pacific Highway. The EIS argues that it cannot be retained as it is in a SP2 road widening zone, however , it should be confirmed with tfnsw whether there are plans for the road widening of Pacific Highway. If not, the argument to demolish the fire station is not supported. Even if there are plans for road widening, the developer should try harder to save the heritage building.
I am certain that the fire station in its present form could easily be incorporated into the development without any need for its demolition. I am not in favour of the interpretive strategies presented that seek to justify demolition by the incorporation of bits and pieces of the fire station. My strong preference would be for the restoration of the heritage building and improving it by recreating the fire station tower. Nothing can replace the feeling of seeing and entering a historical building. Please find a way to save the Fire Station.

Dear Sir or Madam,

When I looked at the document "SEARs" this is actually 32 story residential building instead of 27 story building on the letter. And it is too high to accept as it blocks Sunlight until 1PM on 21/06. The considerable height might be total 26 story building to be accepted to avoid blocking Sunlight.

It will block Sunlight to my property from 9AM to around 1PM on 21/06. Sunlight is blocking for 9AM - 11AM from the other adjacent neighbor buildings of this proposal including 32 story of Meriton Suite building, 79 Albert Ave, Chatswood NSW 2067, and other apartment buildings as well. Then this proposal rent building will extend to block continuously Sunlight from 11AM to around 1PM.

It will bring a serious mental health issue to current residents not only me and my family but also my neighbor residents too in my residential apartment without sunlight.

Also this height will be spread out to neighbor to re-develop the buildings higher than 32 story building in future. Currently 16 story new residential building has been constructing and 26 story building proposal lodged, in the south of the site of this proposal. If we keep the trend of this higher height the residents at west side of Pacific Hwy might get a shade on most of the daytime throughout a year.

Regards,
Seung Min Baek

As a representative of the Museum of Fire, it is our museum’s mission to conserve and communicate the rich history of firefighting and of the fire brigade within the state of NSW and Australia. The Museum of Fire is a registered charity and not-for-profit organisation located in Penrith NSW. The museum has had the privilege to preserve and share the history of firefighting and the fire brigade for nearly 50 years. As a result, our organisation has become one of the foremost authorities on the history and heritage of firefighting in Australia. The demolition of the historic Chatswood Fire Station will result in a significant loss to the heritage of our state’s fire service, as this station is a rare representation of early 20th century fire station architecture, especially within the greater Sydney area. Not only is this a unique and rare example of firefighting heritage which is of tremendous state significance, the station contributes to an iconic street façade that has been recognised for its local significance by Willoughby City Council.

The museum conducts extensive research for many different events but one of our primary research areas is the history of stations and their brigades, with the museum writing many publications over its tenure for the centenary celebrations of various stations and brigades across the state. The historic Chatswood Fire Station was formerly known as Willoughby Fire Station when it was constructed in 1899, becoming an operational fire station on 14 February 1900. The station had an adjoining two storey home built next to it to house the Captain of the brigade as well. Originally this station was staffed by 17 Volunteer Firefighters who were equipped with a manual fire engine, one horse and a hose reel cart. As the Chatswood and Willoughby area rapidly expanded, in 1912 the decision was made to appoint a Permanent Firefighter to the station, signifying how critical this Fire Station became to the fire protection afforded to the area. The remainder of the brigade would consist of Volunteers or Partially Paid Firefighters, what we refer to today as retained or on-call firefighters. As there was already a second Willoughby Fire Station, known as East Willoughby during this time, Willoughby Fire Station was re-named Chatswood in 1917 with East Willoughby becoming known simply as Willoughby Fire Station, which still stands and is operational to this day.

Chatswood Fire Station would only remain an operational fire station for another 28 years, effectively closing in September of 1945 after the Board of Fire Commissioners of NSW, the governing body of the NSW Fire Brigades, initiated a significant restructure of the organisation which saw many other fire stations in the Sydney area close down. Chatswood Fire Station, whilst no longer used for such purpose remained and would receive alterations, becoming converted into a retail shop yet still maintaining the primary façade. It has been recognised as a significant feature of the Chatswood area for a substantial period of time. On 14 January 1987 it was recognised by Clive Lucas and Partners Architecture firm that this station should be recognised for its significance and be preserved in perpetuity as a unique example of early architecture, particularly concerning the construction of early fire stations. The Fire Station would then subsequently be listed as a part of the Local Council’s Heritage Register, the Willoughby Local Environmental Plan 2012, in recognition of its significance to the community and to our state’s history at large.

It is therefore the opinion of the Museum of Fire that this development proposal considers maintaining and preserving the historic fire station. Whilst the museum is not in opposition to the development of new housing, the demolition of the historic fire station would eliminate a rich heritage and undermine the significance the local community has attached to this building. It is integral that preserving the fire station façade, like that which is outlined in the Willoughby Development Control Plan, and incorporating the Fire Station into any new development, would ensure that such an important insight into our historical past is not lost forever

Refer to attached letter

We must preserve the heritage Fire Station facade slated for demolition in this development. Chatswood is already experiencing congestion, particularly on Pacific Highway and Albert Avenue, where this project will be located. Additionally, the nearby Ethos development on Pacific Highway will exacerbate these issues. More high-density developments in Chatswood will lead to overcrowding, increased noise, traffic jams, and congestion at the train station, making the suburb less livable.

There’s too much tall raise building and residential nearby. Also the fire station is a valuable heritage.

As a resident of Chatswood for almost 10 years I have seen first hand the increase in traffic problems around the highway and especially in the area near Albert Ave. I do not support a development which will further exacerbate this problem.
Furthermore the demolition of the heritage fire station would be real shame.

Our longstanding small business within in the Chatswood community is located in one of the buildings of the Proposed Development Site. The document attached demonstrates Novus's ineffective engagement, absence of fair and productive dialogue and absence of response to the negative impacts on an existing small business, including omissions and diluted inaccurate representations of the actual issues raised, in the EIS. This builds speculation regarding Novus's extent of transparency, the credibility of their consideration and responsibility to the community and highlights that the EIS is incomplete, calling into question the integrity and reliability of the EIS.

The attached document also demonstrates the lack of consideration and mitigation planning for existing small business should the Recommendations for further investigative works and demolition be conducted. Finally, the attached document outlines the lack of regard to the health and safety of the community during the investigative work that were completed as part of the EIS.
Supportive documentation is available on request. Specific names have been hidden in the document to ensure compliance with submission guidelines.

The addition of retail and high-rise residential at the corner of Albert Ave and Pacific Hwy will further exacerbate the congestion in the area especially on weekends. There are 4 main areas of concern that are all interlinked with no obvious way of solving without impacting the success of the project:
1) The traffic in all directions at the intersection of Albert and Pacific Hwy is already unacceptable especially in peak hour and on weekends. The variable lane system on pacific hwy is unable to address the amount of traffic, and the confusion further adds congestion northbound on pacific hwy.
Similarly, the traffic exiting chatswood westbound from Albert Ave is already backing up to the Westfield carpark, already choking the Chatswood CBD. Adding additional retail and so many residential apartments in that area and parking/visitors/moving/commercial trucks as well as the traffic during construction will severely and further negatively add congestion to the existing issues. There has to be a better solution for traffic in that intersection or else Chatswood itself will become undesirable as a destination and the city and businesses will lose as a result.
2) Albert Lane is dangerously narrow to support a major residential entry/exit driveway. It is already too narrow to safely be a two way road, and adding so many rental apartments with associated increase frequency of moving trucks, trades/commercial trucks and regular traffic will make that lane extremely dangerous and often blocked. Additional vehicles from this development waiting to turn right from Albert ave will further clog the westbound traffic exiting Chatswood CBD as per point 1) above.
3) Increase in retail in that area will increase the foot traffic cross Albert lane (which does not have pedestrian light or crossing, and additional of such would further exacerbate 1)), as well as at the pedestrian light crossing across pacific hwy. The increased foot traffic in high traffic areas will increase the risk of traffic accidents involving pedestrians, and the increase number of crossing pedestrians will further strain the traffic as called out in point (1) as the traffic turning left from Albert Ave onto pacific Hwy is already limited by the time for pedestrians to cross.
4) More residential and retail on that side of Chatswood will further strain parking availability in Chatswood which is already extremely oversubscribed on weekends. Adding more parking in the development would otherwise further exacerbate issues in 1) and 2).

For additional retail and residential to be a success at this site, significant investment should be made by the development in improving the traffic and lane infrastructure that it would be relying on. Otherwise, reduce the number of residential and retail on-site or significantly increase parking and access from pacific hwy to reduce the impact to already overcapacity roads and parking.
Since I believe the full impact of the development has not been considered in the current plans, I object to the project until the traffic, safety and parking impacts and addressed or else it will be to the detriment to existing residents and businesses that are not compensated as a result.

The traffic around Albert Avenue is already congested, especially around peak hours and when the lanes on Pacific Hwy are changed. Another high rise at that corner will not help the traffic, with all the residents, visitors, moving trucks etc. need to go in and out of that building. On top of that, there are already other high rises planned down Pacific Hwy towards Mowbray Road, which will make the traffic even more complicated. Please fix the traffic before building more high rises around that area.

I am writing to express my concerns about the proposed Build-to-Rent at 763-769 Pacific Highway, Chatswood. As a resident of the fifth floor at 755 Pacific Highway, I have severe concerns about this development's impact on our family.

It will be a 27-story building that towers over our 8-story building. I have a balcony facing the construction site, and sunlight from my balcony will be blocked by the new building for the better part of the morning. One of my bedrooms, in which the windows also overlook the site, will hardly receive sunlight until about 2-3 pm, bringing about darkness with little sunlight penetration to improve our living circumstances.

The reduced sunlight and darker living conditions will make units on our side of the building much less appealing to potential buyers, leading to lower property values and property owners experiencing a harder time selling their properties.

Although I understand that new developments are necessary, this should be taken into consideration about the people already living in the area. The amount of direct sunlight will drop immensely by building such a high structure. I would, therefore, request the council to reconsider the magnitude of the project and do it in a manner that will not dampen the living standards of the existing residents. It might help if the magnitude was downsized or the design changed.

Thanks a lot for considering my comments and submission.

CWWPA raises some concern over the heritage listed old fire station façade and possible impacts on local residents. We also raise the need for Albert Lane to become one-way.

I attached a document with my comments.

Thankyou for the invitation to comment. Several issues of concern follow.
1. Appendix R. Not enough garage spaces. one garage space is needed for every residential apartment. Otherwise, apartment residents will be forced to seek parking elsewhere which will overburden the already public parking capacity. Plus additional spaces for visitor parking for tradepersons and guests of residents. Moreover, every garage space must be configured/cabled to accommodate EV charging.
2. Appendix FF. The Fire Station front facade facing the Pacific Highway should be offered to the Fire Museum (https://www.museumoffire.net/about-the-museum) as an acknowledgement of the "supreme sacrifice" by former Firemen stationed at this facility who lost their lives or were gravely injured battling blazes in our community. The offer should include the careful demolition for relocation and transport to the new Museum site (located at Penrith NSW) and restoration and all associated costs included in this project development.
3. Appendix R. The additional vehicular traffic movement in the vicinity will be considerable and will need to be carefully assessed. Albert Lane movement will need to be regulated to one way for safety.