The proposed development is too high. Its position will interfere with local planning to ensure Newcastle has a cohesive Civic area. The Art Gallery extension has finally come to fruition and the proposed development will detract from its appearance. Whilst there is no doubt that housing is needed it is vital to have a proper plan for Newcastle and not agree to ad hoc extremely high buildings without regard to the need to preserve the integrity of the civic area. Please ensure development is approved in the areas earmarked by Council as appropriate areas for residential development.

I wish to object to the proposed development SSD-82276964 at 47 Darby St, Cooks Hill, City of Newcastle. I’m in favour of more housing in the inner city but this proposal, with overshadowing and mass visual impact, is too high, too big, too 21st century for this heritage precinct.
I remember clearly my first visit to Newcastle from Sydney in the 1990s to visit friends in Cooks Hill. We walked up to Laman St in the early evening and I was struck by the sense of a city with a history: the City Hall, St Andrews Church, the Library, Art Gallery, Nesca House, the Baptist Tabernacle, Wheeler Place and the Civic Theatre all surrounding Civic Park. In that moment the seed was sown and my family moved to Newcastle in 2003, settled in Cooks Hill, and I will never leave. I now live about 3 minutes’ walk from Civic Park and often go there for community markets and events. My kids went to the historic Newcastle East Public School just up the hill on Tyrell St from the proposed development. I was president of the school council for 3 years and I also contribute to City Council housing and social impact working parties and other groups such as the Hunter Ageing Alliance. I went to UoN classes at Nesca House. I take comfort and inspiration from the striking of the City Hall clock.
It’s hard to explain but my sense of community is centred in the Civic Park precinct. While there have been additional 20th century public buildings constructed around the park they have not overwhelmed the sense of a Victorian city. Nesca House and the Regional Library have complementary stone building materials and architectural styles.
My preference is that the City of Newcastle and the NSW Government should purchase this site from the owner and build council offices there to maintain the precinct as one for public use purposes. Why is the council renting offices having sold its previous headquarters?
An alternative would be a development of more student accommodation, well located near Nesca House and NewSpace. I know there is a development of student accommodation at Honeysuckle West but this is inadequate given the growth of the university and the impact of many overseas students competing with local residents for limited rental accommodation.
If it’s necessary to proceed with this development then it must be limited to the height of the Commonwealth/Tax office building on the corner of Darby and King Streets. This is about 30m/8 stories and would offer a sufficient profit for the developer. It should be regarded as not setting a precedent for additional proposals in Cooks Hill and The Hill. There should be guidelines for the architectural design to complement the historic precinct.
Kevin Fell

The new planning laws are controversial because whilst the intent is right to create more housing, it is creating loopholes that are now being exploited by developers who are building developments that are not affordable. I object to the building heights proposed under this development as it destroys the heritage, cultural and aesthetic qualities of this central part of Newcastle. The development will need to comply with Council’s height restrictions which are more in keeping with the area.

Newcastle needs more housing. I've had to move away for uni but moving back to my hometown is looking increasingly unlikely because of Newys housing shortage. Inner areas, such as where this development is proposed, are where housing is needed most. I don't want to move to Melbourne, it's far from my family and friends, but financially it makes a lot more sense than Newcastle right now (despite being a capital city). Please don't lock young people out of Newcastle.

Dear Fiona
Objection – Proposed Rezoning and State Significant Development - 47 Darby Street, Cooks Hill
I write in my capacity as a City of Newcastle Councillor representing Ward 1 to lodge a formal objection to the proposed site-specific rezoning and concurrent State Significant Development at 47 Darby Street, Cooks Hill.
This proposal seeks to increase the permitted height from 14 metres to 45 metres. That is more than triple the current legal limit. It also seeks a substantial uplift in floor space ratio.
I do not support this development in its current form and request that consent be refused.
This matter has been raised with me by many local residents. As you are aware, the proposal is being assessed under the Housing Delivery Authority (HDA) pathway. City of Newcastle is not the consent authority and does not determine this application. If approved, the proposal would override key elements of Newcastle’s established planning framework without sufficient strategic justification.
I want to be clear. I am not opposed to development. Newcastle needs more housing. Increasing density in appropriate locations is good planning. Preventing further sprawl into greenfield land is responsible. Bringing more people into the city to support local businesses, cultural venues and public transport is positive.
Over the past decade, Council has supported significant uplift in the west end of the city centre, consistent with the adopted Newcastle Urban Renewal Strategy, and reflected in the Greater Newcastle Metropolitan Plan, the Newcastle Local Strategic Planning Statement, and our Local Environment Plan. That approach has delivered a revitalised CBD and substantial new housing supply.
However, that growth has always been balanced by an understanding that certain parts of our city are of exceptional civic and cultural importance and must be treated with care.
47 Darby Street sits within the Newcastle City Centre Heritage Conservation Area and on the boundary of the Cooks Hill and The Hill Heritage Conservation Areas. It is directly opposite Civic Park and the Newcastle Art Gallery, within our most significant civic and cultural precinct.
A 45-metre building in this location would be entirely out of scale. It would dominate the two-storey art gallery, overshadow Civic Park and overwhelm the established streetscape of Cooks Hill. It would permanently alter the skyline of the civic precinct.
This is not balanced development.
A building of this height and bulk would:
• Overwhelm the heritage conservation areas that define this part of the city
• Diminish the setting of Civic Park and the Art Gallery
• Set a precedent for excessive height in areas never intended for high rise development


Newcastle already has sufficient up zoned land to meet and exceed its housing targets. We urgently need state government partnership to unlock the Broadmeadow Place Strategy and progress the next stage of Honeysuckle. Those areas are strategically identified for significant uplift and are supported by transport and infrastructure planning.
We do not need ad hoc, site specific upzoning in our civic heart that is disconnected from our Local Strategic Planning Statement, Local Environmental Plan and Development Control Plan.
If government is to permit such a substantial uplift in height and density, it must be accompanied by clear public benefit. City of Newcastle has established mechanisms for this, including incentive height provisions and affordable housing contributions in areas such as Wickham and Broadmeadow. The use of the HDA pathway in this instance risks circumventing those established frameworks and avoiding a fair and proportionate contribution to public infrastructure and amenity.
I also wish to raise concern about accessibility and equity in the consultation process. Many residents have reported difficulty navigating the NSW Planning Portal to lodge a submission. When proposals of this magnitude are exhibited for a limited period, the process must be straightforward and accessible to all members of the community. Meaningful community participation is fundamental to confidence in the planning system.
I understand that City of Newcastle planning officers will be preparing a detailed technical submission. I strongly request that their assessment be given serious and careful consideration.
Newcastle can and should grow. But growth must be thoughtful. It must respect heritage, scale and civic character. A tower that overshadows and overwhelms our cultural heart is not the right outcome for this site.
I urge the Department to refuse the proposed rezoning and State Significant Development at 47 Darby Street.
Should you require any further information, please contact me on 02 4974 1366 or via email at [email protected]
Yours sincerely

Cr Declan Clausen
City of Newcastle

This project is ridiculous and an insult to all the residents in The Hill & Cooks Hill Conservation areas. It is way too high and would adversely affect the Newcastle Art Gallery (Darby St) & Heritage listed Synagogue opposite (Tyrrell St). There would be huge traffic problems at the Tyrrell / Darby St intersection, which is a main emergency route for Newcastle Police, during construction and afterwards. Finally, it would set a precedent for the desecration of our Heritage Conservation Areas.

I support high density housing, but this method to pass this project has not been transparent to the Newcastle community. The planning is outside of local planning controls breaching the 14m height limit by 31m with a proposed 45m tall building opposite the Art Gallery which is 14m tall, and doing doing this by pursuing a State Significant Development bypassing local planning and going straight to the State planning minister.

Community consultation when changing planning parameters is essential for support by the community

• First I’m not opposed to the re-development of this site. It’s the size that is not appropriate. It’s way out of the box!
• As we all know, it’s a monster and breaks the constraints that have been imposed on this area by the Newcastle Local Environmental Plan 2012. This 2012 plan was approved as the way for the city to move forward as a liveable city after much planning and consultation with relevant parties.
• Now one Sydney-based developer thinks he can come in and overturn the legislated local process. He’ll certainly make a lot of money if he can.
• For example, the building goes from 14m to 45m, an increase of 321%. The FSR increases by 139%, which is no small change either. In part, built on what seems to be a technical mistake in the DCP. The intention of the LEP 2012 though is clear.
• There is an area in Newcastle allocated to high rise development and it’s not the Darby Street area.
• Steggles Mendez claims that this development “completes the missing civic link between these key cultural and public spaces, creating a more connected, walkable and vibrant public domain.” Why is a huge residential block called “civic”?
• Can I suggest he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. It’s the standard developers’ promo. Developers always argue that people in their developments will be walking everywhere or catching public transport despite the lack of evidence.
• There’ll be more people walking as it is proposed that more people will be living there. Nothing unusual there. However, there’ll be a heck of a lot more traffic. I guess the council will soon have to install traffic lights at the intersection of Darby and Tyrrell streets. Doubt if the developer will kick in for that.
• This proposal ignores the current development under way at 11-17 Mosbri Crescent, The Hill, which will contain 161 dwellings. Much of the traffic from this development will come down Swan and Queen streets and turn right into Darby Street. This will be blocked by traffic heading north on Darby Street wanting to turn right into this development’s driveway to the underground carpark because of traffic travelling south on Darby Street. This will be the same as what happens at Harris Farm further south on Darby Street. The traffic on Darby Street is growing not staying stable. This proposal will bog it up even more.
• This development is right opposite the recently renovated and expanded Newcastle Art Gallery of two stories which is next to the Newcastle Library both of which face Civic Park which includes a small war memorial area. I wonder if the government would approve a 45m residential building next to the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney. No way! But Newcastle, they can just put up with it.
• Civic Park hosts open air concerts and other events which I can see being objected to by the older residents of this proposed development. This has happened in inner Sydney and Melbourne where new apartment occupants have protested about nearby live music venues and usually won.
• This development will do nothing to help solve the housing problem, units won’t be anywhere near the range of those seeking to get their first house. Units will probably start around $1.5M if that.
• Steggles Mendez’s publicity photos says a lot. They are grey and he doesn’t even look at the camera which is a bit strange. Maybe that sums up his approach to having some communication with a community about to be overrun by one of his inappropriate developments.

The development’s scale and density are incompatible with existing traffic networks in this precinct. The amount of traffic this development would create will exacerbate congestion on already constrained streets, creating safety risks for pedestrians and cyclists. Also straining local infrastructure.
The three times over the legal height limit erodes the heritage conservation.
Newcastle, specifically Darby Street deserves protection from developers interests.