I lived in Lindfield for approximately 20 years and brought my family up in a home around the corner from this site, in Mackenzie Street. I have strong objections to this project on the following bases:

Bulk & scale:

The proposed building is too big for its site and too big in relation to other homes in the street and in adjoining streets. It is too big even when compared with other apartments and commercial buildings in the area. In the context of the neighbourhood of Lindfield overall, it is ridiculously over-sized and out of character. The bulk is made more daunting by the fact it (1) sits directly alongside normal residential homes of max 2 storeys; and (2) the design places the open space off the main street so it is not visible at all to the general public. It does nothing to soften the frontage.

Overshadowing:

The proposed building will block northern sun from many of the Tryon Rd properties - not just those directly alongside the building. The Tryon Rd properties closest to Nelson Rd will lose all their sun in winter from about 10am. The whole block of those properties is overshadowed for almost the entire day, all the way from their back yard to beyond the street frontage, onto the street itself! In a world where we are trying to reduce carbon emissions, this in unforgiveable, not to mention the impact on the mental health of the people in those properties who are now forced to live without the warmth of the sun in their homes for most of winter. Winter is when sun is most valuable for a residential home.
Height transition: there is virtually no height transition proposed from the boundaries. This accentuates the bulk of the building and magnifies the degree of overshadowing.

Parking:

Car parking on Nelson St, Havilah and Tryon is already at a premium due to its proximity to the train station. It will be far worse with the addition of 167 apartments replacing just 3 homes, even with the basement car parking that is proposed. Simple maths will tell you that, allowing 1 car spot for each of the one bedroom apartments, and, say, 3 guest car parks, this leaves 213 car spaces for 132 two and three-bedroom apartments. That equates to just 1.3 car space per apartment. There is no doubt there will be overflow to the street and this will impact parking for residents across the whole of Lindfield and East Lindfield, many of whom rely on the train service.

Traffic safety:

There is the obvious corollary that more cars mean more traffic jams and traffic accidents. More importantly for this site though is the presence of a school for children with a disability immediately across the road. This adds signficantly to the risk of harm (to children in particular) from car accidents. The kids who attend Chromehurst School are vulnerable and need our protection. Even in Year 12, many of them will never have the street smarts of a 5 year old. Many are prone to wandering without any insight into the accompanying risks and, whilst gates will prevent some accidents, they are not fool-proof. Furthermore, the risk will not just be at drop-off and pick-up time. I can say all this because my daughter has severe disabilities and attended Day Programs at the school in holiday time. Parents and teachers of children with a disability live on high alert all the time. As a community, it is our job to aide them in this role, not add to their safety concerns.

Conclusion: It is incredible to me that professional educated business people can propose a build of this scale on this small block in this precious village-like community. I trust that others will consider the bigger picture at play here and find the proposal unacceptable.

There is too much height and bulk to the project. The height of over 32m exceeds the maximum permitted building height. The project is within a Heritage Conservation Area and will interface with 1-2 story much older residences. The site is partially out of the original TOD. The area just to the north is prone to flooding. It is near a busy intersection and more traffic will cause significant peak hour bottlenecks. A significant number of trees will be removed to accomodate the site.

To whom it may concern,

I am writing to strongly object to the Concept Development Application (SSD-82899468) for 1–5 Nelson Road, Lindfield. As a long-term resident who has lived in Lindfield since I was five years old, I care deeply about the character, planning integrity, and future liveability of this suburb.

This proposal seeks to approve 167 apartments across 9 storeys, with minimal scrutiny, based solely on a concept design. This is unacceptable. The proper process, including full environmental and heritage assessments, must be done before any such approval, not afterward. It undermines the integrity of the planning system and sets a dangerous precedent.

My primary objections include:
- Location Outside the TOD: This site sits outside the revised Town Centre TOD. Allowing high-density apartments here would compromise the strategic vision for managed growth and open the floodgates for further inappropriate development.
- Height and Scale: At over 32 metres, the proposal grossly exceeds local planning controls and is completely out of scale with the surrounding residential character.
- Heritage Conservation Area: This development lies within a recognised Heritage Conservation Area. Its bulk, height, and density are incompatible with the historic streetscape and values of the area.
- Infrastructure Capacity: Our roads, stormwater systems, schools, and services are already stretched. This proposal does not address how 167 apartments and 251 car spaces will impact local infrastructure.
- Loss of Biodiversity: Approving this development risks irreversible loss of tree canopy and natural habitat in an already ecologically pressured suburb.

Please reject this development in its current form. It is inconsistent with the strategic, environmental, and community values of Lindfield.

Kind regards,
Long-term Resident of Lindfield

The 75 metre height limit is the maximum height that should be permissable in this location. Nothing more. If this is approved should we have up to 50 storeys the closer we get to the station? Loftus Crescent is a narrow road with a narrow footpath. Totally inappropriate for a 35 storey building. There's only one footpath as the other side of the road is the railway. The amount of cars these proposed apartments will bring onto the roads will be such that there will be chaos every morning and afternoon. The roundabout on the corner of Loftus Crescent and Subway Lane will not be able to cope with the number of cars that will be passing through there everyday.
This area has a lack of amenities and this proposal does nothing to help with that. The mention of express trains passing through Homebush is deceptive as they don't stop at Homebush.
Once again, 35 storeys is far too much for this location. The infrastructure here just can't support two buildings of heights up to 119m. Parramatta Rd, the main road that passes through here at this location isn't coping with the traffic volume as it is now.

I believe that the infrastructure in Homebush has not caught up with the sharp increase of population. At the moment, there are already 3 new apartment buildings in the making, and now they want to build 2 more towers with 318 apartments. I am assuming 318 new families, plus the new families in the other 3 large, brand new apartment buildings, will move in those apartments within the next few years, then which school will have enough capacities to support all these kids, definitely not Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The burden will be carried by all the public schools in the Homebush area.

Then we need to think about roads, hospitals, childcare, public transport, public spaces and shopping centres that could fit the needs of all these new families. All of which we are not yet have. And when push comes to shove, when inflations plus economic downturn plus high interest rate created a perfect storm, they blame on immigrations right away. Not on poor planning of infrastructure or years of bad policies and definitely not on greed.

I understand the effort of trying to build 12 affordable housing units is commendable. However, if we don't do anything about the economy, if we just go on trade war without thinking of the affect on the common people, then the housing problem cannot be solved, even with 10 millions new affordable housing units.

I implore you all to take a good, hard look at the lesson of Marsden Park - a suburban infrastructure planning nightmare, where schools are overcrowded and the roads are filled with traffic jams. These problems will cause chronic stress, which will then put more pressure on the healthcare systems in the long run.

If you want to build this complex, please make sure you have the correct infrastructure for the new wave of people. This will reduce overall stress for everyone. I just want that one day, Homebush will be as beautiful as Burwood or Eastwood.

The area is already congested with too many apartments with insufficient space for parking and infrastructure. The traffic is horrendous and is already terrible with multiple businesses such as Crash Claims and other automotive shops which block the roads.

What the area needs is more green space, more parks and improved traffic and parking conditions. Furthermore, all apartments in the area are low rise buildings with most around 7 or 8 storeys. The suggested project is 27-35 storeys which will affect the current aesthetics of the neighbourhood, block our views and cause further congestion to the area.

The local infrastructure cannot support another 400+ residents in the area. Please tell us where everyone is going to park considering each unit comes with minimal car spaces, and the businesses in the area already take up our street parking.

The local Homebush train station is considered a small station with minimal trains on their timetable. This clearly has not been factored into this proposed addition of all these “new residents”. Rather than focusing on building as many units as possible for a cash grab, think of the current residents and how this project will affect the neighbourhood.

I highly oppose to this project as it needs to be either halted until the above factors have been resolved, and at a minimum should be downsized to a low rise apartment like the rest of the neighbourhood.