Dear Assessment Officer,

I'm writing to object to the proposed 43-storey development at 10 Dangar Street, Wickham.

I work as a rideshare driver covering this area, and I see firsthand how the roads already struggle during peak times. A development this size will put serious pressure on local infrastructure that isn't equipped to handle it. The application doesn't adequately show how the area's services — water, sewerage, public transport, roads — can actually support 43 storeys of residents and workers.

My main concern is community infrastructure. It's not just about whether a building can technically be constructed. The real question is whether the applicant has proven this won't create unacceptable problems for Wickham and Newcastle West. Right now, I don't think they have.

The sheer height and scale of this proposal add to my concern that it's being rushed through. The timing feels premature — there are too many outstanding issues that haven't been properly worked through.

Dear Assessment Officer,

I work as a civil engineer and I've been looking at the documentation for the 43-storey development at 10 Dangar Street. What concerns me most is whether the public domain and road reserve impacts have actually been thought through properly.

The application seems to depend on outcomes around public domain, road interfaces and through-site links that haven't been properly locked down or endorsed by the relevant authorities. From a technical standpoint, this isn't something you can iron out later in detailed design—it's fundamental to whether this proposal should be approved at all.

On top of that, I'm not convinced the design excellence side is being handled with enough rigour. The submission makes broad statements about managing these issues, but I'd want to see specific, detailed drawings with clear operational commitments and enforceable conditions. Right now it reads more like intentions than solutions.

Given how large this development is, I think the assessment needs to be based on solid technical evidence rather than assumptions that problems can be sorted out down the track. There are genuine public interest risks here that need resolving before approval.

Dear Assessment Officer,

I'm writing to object to the proposed 43-storey development at 10 Dangar Street, Wickham. As an urban planner, I've spent years working on precinct-scale planning, and I have serious concerns about whether this application should proceed in its current form.

The design excellence pathway is fundamentally unresolved. The applicant hasn't provided a complete Alternative Design Excellence Strategy, and they haven't properly responded to the State Design Review Panel's issues. This isn't something that can be worked out later during detailed design—it directly affects whether the proposal is suitable for approval now. You can't separate good design from the decision to approve a building of this scale.

Construction impacts are another major gap. The material submitted relies on vague commitments and general statements. What I'd expect to see are actual drawings showing how the site will operate during construction, specific operational procedures, and conditions with real teeth. "We'll manage it appropriately" doesn't cut it—show me exactly how.

My concern here is broader too. A 43-storey building has genuine impacts on Wickham, Newcastle West, and the whole Newcastle Interchange precinct. The application hasn't made a convincing case that those impacts are acceptable. Saying the site is near public transport or that we need housing doesn't answer whether *this particular proposal* works for the area.

Dear Assessment Officer,

I'm writing to object to the proposed 43-storey development at 10 Dangar Street in its current form.

I work in traffic management, so I've looked closely at how this development would function on the road network. What concerns me most is that the access arrangements haven't adequately addressed several safety issues that need resolving before approval. The driveway sightlines don't look right to me, and I'm not convinced the assessment properly accounts for how heavy vehicle movements, pedestrians and cyclists will interact at that location. Dangar Street serves a civic function in this precinct, and the proposal doesn't demonstrate it can handle that role alongside the traffic this building would generate.

Beyond the immediate site access, I'm sceptical that a development of this scale can operate without creating real problems for Wickham, Newcastle West and the wider Newcastle Interchange area. The traffic modelling shown doesn't adequately address cumulative impacts.

I'm also concerned about flood risk. This part of Wickham is already dealing with significant pressure from traffic, public transport, pedestrian and cyclist movements, plus ongoing development. Adding a 43-storey building without confidence in the flood assessment is a risk the community shouldn't have to carry.

Dear Assessment Officer,

I use public transport regularly to get around Newcastle, and that's why I'm concerned about this 43-storey development at 10 Dangar Street. The application doesn't adequately show how the transport network can handle a building of this size without causing real problems in Wickham, Newcastle West and around the Newcastle Interchange.

My main objection is about community infrastructure. A development this big needs proper planning, not just approval because it can technically be built. The applicant needs to demonstrate this will work fairly and safely for everyone who lives and works here.

The proposed height and scale make this worse. I don't see how you can approve something this size when there are still unresolved issues around flooding, traffic, wind impact, design, the public domain and infrastructure capacity.

I'm not against new housing — we need it. But we shouldn't rush into approving buildings just to add more dwellings if that means ignoring serious problems like flood risk, traffic congestion, wind effects, poor design outcomes and the strain on existing services.

Dear Assessment Officer,

I'm writing to object to the proposed development at 10 Dangar Street, Wickham (SSD-89869959).

As a practising architect in the area, I've spent enough time working on projects here to understand how the planning framework operates and what the existing controls are meant to achieve. This proposal concerns me because the 43-storey height simply doesn't sit within any reasonable interpretation of the current planning controls for Wickham, and I haven't seen a convincing argument for why this particular site warrants such an exceptional uplift.

The scale is the main issue. The FSR being proposed goes well beyond what the incentive controls allow, and the applicant hasn't provided adequate justification for this departure from the established framework. Communities need to understand why they're being asked to accept impacts of this magnitude, and the application doesn't make that case convincingly enough.

On a practical level, I'm also troubled by the bicycle and motorcycle parking provisions. This stretch of Wickham already carries significant pressure from vehicular traffic, public transport, pedestrians and cyclists. A development of this scale will add to those pressures, and the parking design doesn't appear to address that adequately.

Dear Assessment Officer,

I'm writing to object to the proposed 43-storey development at 10 Dangar Street in its current form.

I walk through Wickham most days to get to work, and I'm genuinely concerned about what this scale of development would do to the area. The application hasn't demonstrated that a building this size can work here without creating real problems for pedestrian movement, the neighbourhood feel, and how the western side of the Newcastle city centre functions overall.

This isn't just about one building. A project like this would essentially reset what's considered acceptable for Wickham going forward. That's a significant decision that shouldn't be made lightly.

What troubles me most is that the cumulative impacts haven't been properly addressed. Neither has the question of affordable housing and what public benefit might offset the scale of what's being built. These feel like separate issues that need to be resolved together, not sidestepped.

Dear Assessment Officer,

I cycle through this area regularly, and I'm worried the application hasn't shown how impacts from a 43-storey tower will actually be managed on the ground.

A development this size in a flood-prone, infrastructure-constrained location needs more careful scrutiny. Basement safety, emergency access routes, and shelter arrangements during flooding aren't things to compromise on. Same goes for risk to life — that has to come before convenience.

The CPTED approach and ongoing management plan for the site are unclear, and the loading and servicing arrangements haven't been sorted out properly either. I don't think this should get approval without an independent review of these issues first.

What matters here is what the development will actually do to Wickham, Newcastle West, and the surrounding precincts — not just that it's near a train station or that we need more housing. Those are separate questions.

Dear Assessment Officer,

I've lived in this area for a good many years now, and I'm writing to object to the proposed 43-storey development at 10 Dangar Street, Wickham.

My main concern is about aviation and crane risk. A building of this height brings real safety questions that I don't think have been properly addressed in the application. It's not just about whether the thing can technically be built — it's about whether the applicant has actually shown this can happen safely and proportionately.

The heritage and townscape issues add to my worry that this proposal simply isn't ready for approval yet.

I'm not against new housing. We need it in the right places. But we shouldn't be pressured into accepting unresolved risks around flooding, traffic, wind impacts, design quality, public spaces or the infrastructure that would support it.

Dear Assessment Officer,

I'm writing to object to the proposed 43-storey development at 10 Dangar Street because I have serious concerns about how it will work for people like me who have mobility issues.

I live in the area and rely on being able to navigate Wickham without unnecessary obstacles. The thing that worries me most is the stormwater and drainage situation. A building this size will generate a lot of runoff, and I haven't seen any proper detail about where that water goes or how it'll be managed when things go wrong. The application just doesn't spell it out clearly enough.

The streets around here—Dangar, Charles, Hannell—are already busy with pedestrians, cyclists, vehicles and service trucks. Flooding or poor drainage would make it even harder for me to get around safely. Right now the plans leave this as something to sort out later, but that's not good enough. These issues need to be worked out now, before anyone approves anything.

I also have questions about community infrastructure. A 43-storey building is a massive change to what's allowed here, and the applicant needs to prove it won't cause unacceptable problems. They should provide clear evidence and firm commitments upfront, not vague promises about how they'll handle it after the fact.