Yorktown Parade and Fitzgerald Avenue, Maroubra - Affordable Housing Redevelopment

I attach my submission concerning the Yorktown Parade and Fitzgerald Avenue, Maroubra - Affordable Housing Redevelopment Project.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide my input to the Project.
Gillian Thomas OAM

I would like to put in an objection to this project. I feel like the dwellings will be too large for the area. 144 new units for this area is WAY over what can be handled. We have already had a significant increase in traffic since the development at Eastgardens. I'm often waiting a long time to try and get out of my driveway to take my son to school in the mornings. The other issue is parking. The parking is really limited in our part of the street. visitors often have to park in neighboring streets as there is no parking on Fitzgerald ave. This development will only make this almost impossible. The other thing to note is Coral Sea park is used regularly for sports on week nights and the weekends. The road is not wide enough to handle even more traffic. I would suggest someone actually come and try and drive around this area on a saturday morning in winter. Its impossible to get through and is very dangerous for young kids. The last thing we need is big development to go into the area. I really hope you re-think this project and the negative impact it will have on the area.

Please see attached Submission.

Dear Sir,
We thank you for the opportunity to comment on this development. As owners of properties directly across the road 220 and 220A Fitzgerald Avenue, Maroubra,

We are generally supportive of the redevelopment of the site for an affordable housing development, however, we are
concerned about the intensity of the proposed development and the resulting impacts on the local amenity, including:
▪ incompatibility with the local character arising from excessive building height, density, and bulk
▪ Adverse streetscape and front setback impacts
▪ Adverse privacy
▪ Sub-optimal architectural design and aesthetics
▪ Sub-optimal social mix
▪ Road infrastructure.
These concerns are explained further in the attached submission by BBF Town Planners.
We appreciate your consideration of these matters.

Please see attached.

The development for the area is great as south maroubra is a bit rundown but I don’t understand why all the housing commission and the affordable housing are concentrated in this area. The intent of these type of projects is to make sure low income people have access to homes in different areas, but if you put them all in the same area it defeats the purpose and creates a ghetto. There are plenty of other areas the randwick council put the affordable housing or at least make the new development 50/50 affordable and normal income people. Otherwise this area is becoming a ghetto full of people who do not take care of their property and belongings and create a lot of trouble all in the same place. It is creating a breading ground for fights and noise rather than rehabilitating some of these people.

My partner and I live on Yorktown parade and we can already see a big difference between the affordable housing in the street and other private buildings/houses. There is a lot of waste and even dog poo on the street, you hear people yell at night and sometimes even during the day, some fights between parents and their kids or with dogs. It’s already a bit of a ghetto and the more we put clusters of affordable housing the more it’s going to become a real ghetto. As much as we support affordable housing projects, they should be spread out in different areas and suburbs to avoid that and ensure people actually take care of Maroubra and it stays a livable, clean and safe suburb.

The proposed build on Yorktown parade will see a dramatic increase in the number of available homes on the street, while this is a good thing for NSW in general it is not particularly good for the immediate area as Yorktown parade is already too congested to increase the number of residents living on the street.
It is already very difficult to find parking on the street. It is sometimes impossible to drive down that street when sport is being played on Coral Sea Park. Crime is very high particularly on Yorktown parade and dramatically increasing housing density would add to the problem.
In my view, although new buildings and such would be great for the area, such a large increase of new homes in such a small peice of land may not necessarily be the correct thing to do for the neighbourhood. I feel a revision would be beneficial and lower density than proposed would be better suited for the site.

I strongly object to this project, as Maroubra already has a disproportionately high number of social housing clusters compared to neighbouring suburbs. Research has shown that such clusters are associated with higher crime rates, which raises concerns about the potential negative impact on the community. I've lived in the close proximity to social housing for five years, and during that time, I've witnessed incidents such as cars being scratched with keys, vehicles coming to the area for drug transactions, and people stealing goods from local shops. Instead of reducing the density of social housing, the project aims to increase it. Furthermore, there`s only 77 parking spots allocated for 144 units, meaning that a substantial number of cars will flood the neighbouring streets. The implementation of such a project in a beachside suburb raises concerns about the council's long-term vision for the area.

I strongly oppose the addition of further low-income housing in this area due to the existing crime and violence issues associated with current social housing clusters. These problems make us feel unsafe in our community.
Issues we face include:
Groups of youths riding unregistered, loud off-road bikes with no regard for the safety or peace of residents.
Drug distribution points and drug-affected individuals screaming and causing disturbances at all hours, with limited intervention from the police, who claim they cannot enter residences to address drug use or associated disturbances.
Social housing neighbours engaging in dangerous behaviour, such as throwing knives for entertainment.
Vandalism, including scratched cars, with no consequences for the offenders.
General neglect and trashing of the surroundings, making the area unwelcoming for others.
The impacts of these issues are far-reaching:
Many local businesses have been forced to close due to crime and violence, such as those at Lexington Place.
The Walsh’s Village Pharmacy had to employ full-time security to deter criminal activity.
At Woolworths Metro Maroubra Beach, theft has become common, and staff are often too intimidated to act against offenders.
The current situation is already out of control, and adding more social and low-income housing will only exacerbate these issues. This will further discourage hard-working residents from living in the area, pushing away those who contribute positively to the community.
I urge you not to increase social and low-income housing in this area to protect the safety and well-being of the existing community.

Hi,

I currently live in Yorktown Parade with my partner. We love the area even though we believe there is too much housing commission. The redevelopment of the old housing commission is a good idea considering the poor condition it is found. However, we believe that the new development should have a Build to Rent compound targeting any income band. Having a development with only low to very low income people creates a "ghetto". We already have few examples of "ghetto" on the same street. This type of tennant does not appreciate what they are given and they do not maintain anything: they do not garden at all, they keep "rubbish" and stolen items in the gardens (i.e. bikes), they install strange blinds to the windows making the building look awful and they scream and argue on the streets (there was a stabbing last year in Yorktown Parade). We understand there is lack of social affordable housing in Randwick, but there is NO lack of social affordable housing in South Maroubra. Put them somewhere else.

Thanks.

This proposal is substantially outside of the capacity of the area. There is not the infrastructure, will cause congestion, and over crowding. It is unfitting for the area to propose such a large volume of dwellings, poorly thought out! Where will they go to school, and park? There is not this size dwellings in this area! There has been given no consideration to how poorly this will impact the surrounding houses and residential properties! Significantly over populating that spot - significant increase from current density.
Do better

I’m in support for a new development but I oppose that the only tenants will be social housing and low income households. This is a classic case of creating a ghetto, this has been proven throughout the world. I propose there should be privately bought properties included within the development by doing this we are not isolating low income and social housing and creating a community. Thank you for your time in reading this.

I object to the proposed new affordable housing re-development in Yorktown Parade and Fitzgerald Avenue. There is already a huge amount of social housing in the area so I feel it is the wrong place for more low income housing. It's already like living in a ghetto with police driving through the area constantly because of the violence and domestic violence. The area needs to be improved with higher income housing to balance out all the already existing social housing population. Don't create a bigger ghetto here! New low income housing is necessary and needs to be build, but not in areas where there are already lots of low income housing as this will create even more issues with gangs and violence than we already have. Therefore I strongly oppose the project.

1. Increased levels of traffic and associated noise and congestion. At the moment, the street is single lane both ways. There is increased parking especially during the summer months. If there are an increase in residents, parking will be a nightmare, especially those with a 2nd or 3rd car for those units with more than 1 bedroom. Parking is also not allowed on the nature strip.
2. Dumping of rubbish. There has been an increase in the dumping of rubbish. If there is an increase in the number of units, the dumping of rubbish will increase where currently we are trying to beautify the street.
3. Privacy. Having 3 levels will encroach onto neighbouring yards and affect the privacy of surrounding residents.
4. Increase in noise. With more residents come an increase in noise of all categories.
5. Having 3 levels also will overlook into the areas of neighbouring dwellings and into the rooms of surrounding dwellings where privacy need to be maintained.

I support the project. I use to live in Randwick LGA a few years ago, but after receiving some fairly dramatic rent rises I ended up leaving. If there was more options to rent from this probably never would have happened.

I am a local resident affected by the above proposed development.

Firstly, I understand and support the need for social housing but it needs to be a properly thought through so that the development is beneficial for residents and neighbours alike.

As is known to Homes NSW, this area is notorious for crime, drugs, graffiti, noise pollution, narrow roads and congested traffic conditions and accordingly it is the responsibility of government to protect the community and house values in the area. I highly recommend a police station to be incorporated into the design of the building to present an obstacle for crime and safeguard responsible law abiding citizens in the area.

I consider the construction of 144 social and low income dwellings will be severely detrimental to the broader community and strongly recommend NSW Homes restrict to 96 total dwellings in a total of 4 x 3 storey dwellings to reduce the impact of the site and allow for increased landscaping along with open spaces for social housing residents in order that the development does not become a high density ghetto as is the case with other social housing in this area.

As stated I understand the need for social housing, however, I strongly oppose restricting this development to low income residents and encourage a 50:50 split to allow emergency workers, teachers, police and nurses that are currently priced out of the local market to be able to purchase the units as this would result in a much more balanced and aspirational community. Surely Homes NSW take in account the damning evidence of the social issues created by low income families being crammed in to densely populated areas.

Given the value of the land, 50% should be available to be sold to the public and funds raised to purchase additional social housing locations in different geographies in the greater metropolitan area to create a more equitable outcome. I note the cost of construction is $90 Million dollars and this should not be fully funded by tax dollars.

I have reviewed all the reports for the proposed development and find the impact on parking and traffic observations to be totally unsatisfactory. As a resident for 20 years , the traffic on weekdays and weekends during the winter season is chaotic along Yorktown Parade and is unable to function with parking on both sides of the street. Over the years, I have witnessed acts of violence, punch ups and accidents due to driver frustration. My driveway access is often blocked due to parents desperate for parking and I am unable to get my car out of the driveway, which in an emergency is unsatisfactory. In addition with the number of young children playing soccer there is extreme danger as they navigate traffic to get to the playing fields. My recommendation is that No Parking should be allowed on the residential side of the street for the entire length of the Coral Sea Park. Only if you are a local resident can you fully appreciate the traffic chaos in the winter season.

My other questions and concerns:-
1. What increased security will be in place by the police to protect local citizens.
2. Who will be responsible for the removal of graffiti and in what time frame will it be removed once reported.
3. Will there be a hotline for illegally dumped rubbish on the street which pervades the local area.
4. Will there be a specific location for Otto bin collection that is not visible from both street Fitzgerald and Yorktown street frontages. 5. How often will this area be fumigated for vermin and odour.
6. Will the construction adopt cutting edge green renewable technology including solar and electric battery charging stations included and be available to the general community.
7. Will any criminals/ peadophiles be eligible for tenancy, how will the broader community be notified and protected.
8. Will pets be allowed, if so what dog breeds will be specifically restricted ie pit bulls. In addition will the council commit to the clean up increased dog turds on my property.
9. Will neighbours be compensated for increased insurance premiums for property as a result of the demographic proposed for the development, and which government department should I send my request for compensation.
10. Will compensation be available for stolen Amazon packages to property owners in the area.
11. The established pine tree currently in the back yard of 195 Fitzgerald Avenue, must be retained.
12. Will security guards be hired when council footpaths are concreted to avoid damage from local community residents.

There is widespread community concern for this development from hard working, law abiding, responsible taxpaying residents in this area, who deserve their basic rights protected. The parking issue and traffic safety concerns must be addressed and are non negotiable for existing residents should this development proceed. There will likely be a death on Yorktown Parade should this project go ahead without the appropriate parking and traffic changes put in place.

Thank You for taking these comments seriously.

I await a formal written response to my concerns.

I strongly support this proposal as it
* is providing more housing during a housing crisis that is driving young people out of Sydney
* I support having more social and affordable housing - all forms of more housing are welcome in my view
* The location is in a good location being right next to a park, close to a beach, shops, and a cycle path
* Personally I would prefer to see taller buildings e.g. a slight increase to the heights of the buildings (e.g. 6 levels)
* The location is a 5 minute walk to a bus stop that has frequent bus services

I strongly support more housing here, especially social and affordable. It is well located for modest medium density being right on a park, a short walk to the beach and Maroubra shops.
It is well connected - right on a bike path, a 5 minute walk to a bus stop on Anzac Parade with frequent busses every 10 minutes to the light rail. All up 50 minutes to Central.
More housing types like this should be fostered and approved where people want to live.

Hello,
There are a few reasons for which I object the project:
- The projected height of the building is higher than the current zoning allows, which will change the landscape of the neighborhood and possibly down the line lead to a zoning change which will bring more resident in an area that is already densely populated
- The street parking in the are is already very complicated so bringing more resident will make it worse to the detriment of current residents
- A project this size will take a long time to build, with coming and going of lots of heavy vehicles which will render traffic and all circulation a nightmare for a long time, not mentioning the soccer season where yorktown parade is completely saturated
- A project this size will inevitably lead to damages to the current infrastructures (roads, etc) with no assurance they will be fixed after
- Finally, a development this size will have several nooks and crannies that could encourage and facilitate all sorts of unlawful activities in a neighborhood that is already the theater of several traffics. Living here and seeing constant police activity, I doubt it is positive to bring more people and a setting that could foster crime.
Thank you