Please find attached a submission from Bayside Council.

We refer to the above proposal re-development of the above mentioned property. We run and own Sydney Harbour Bed and Breakfast at 140-142 Cumberland Street, at the Rocks.

We note the 7 level structure to be built on Gloucester Street will potentially block the views to the Opera House, that the saleability of certain of our rooms rely upon. If the views are blocked, we will not be able to achieve anywhere near the same revenue for the rooms in question and this business was sold to us on the basis of revenues achieved with Opera House views based on a rental at the time.

Further to the above all our driveway/parking access occurs from Gloucester Street which may also adversely affect our passage in and out of our residence and business.

We, therefore, object to the proposal if the views end up being blocked and therefore decrease our revenue. If this occurred we would think it fair and just that the rental be revised via review.

Furthermore, there are a multitude of ugly apartments being erected all throughout Sydney, yet why choose right in the middle of a heritage area, which might we add, are scarce as it is in Australia. People come into the Rocks from all over the world to view our history, not some out of place, disjointed, cheap apartments, that could more easily fit into the likes of somewhere in Western Sydney, definitely not the ROCKS!

Attached are the photos to point out the seven-storey (68-72 Gloucester Street) and nine-storey (85 Harrington Street) will definitely block the Opera House View rooms.

It is identified that the significance of Opera House View rooms in the heritage listed building. Tourists come to the Rocks, are mainly looking for Australian heritage charm in the area but not really a high rise apartments. Otherwise, Australia don't really have our history to tell. The hidden history in the Rocks is what traveller want to visit, want to stay here, want to discover. Most importantly, they do enjoy the old charming area.

Kind regards,

Linda and James
Sydney Harbour Bed and Breakfast

Please see attached.

In regard to above proposal re-development, we object the modern apartment building is being built in the heritage precinct based on the key points as below,
* Ruin Australian history in a protected heritage precinct
In Australia, we only have less than 1% of history which are mainly located in the Rocks. The Rocks is Australia's birth place and displays how they settled in Australia, how they built local sandstone houses by hands, from which the area derives its name. Without the Rocks, Australia has no history.
As Australian citizens, we should maintain our history and make this area a preserved precinct. Why do all the youth/students always come to the Rocks? Why do all of our tourists walk through here? Why do all the bride/groom taking choose this area to take the wedding shots? Think about it. Without these historical building, what can we tell the next generation? What can we tell the tourists? What else we can teach our kids about diligent? Everything in the Rocks is made by a lot of hands, blood, sweat and tears. How can we make the next generation remember all of these? With high rise apartments, it's going to ruin our history in Australia the memorial site will be destroyed.

* Building Height without considering neighborhood residential zone as a whole
Building a six storey building on Gloucester Street and 9 storey n Harrington Street are exceeding building limit of Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority (SCRA) Scheme. The maximum level should be 2 or 3 storey from the Gloucester Street level.

The proposed six storey has a maximum height in Longs Lane, Gloucester Street, Carahers Lane etc In Longs Lane, the maximum height is 2 storey. Building modern apartments is more commercial purpose but it doesn't consider the Rocks community as a whole. More importantly, developer can't see the impact of the neighborhood interest, however, what they can see is all about money and profit.

* Maintain the same Rocks terrace brings significance to the next generation

The terraces in the Rocks has significant history background and it's a good way to educate our generations how they share bathrooms in the past, lights in pull cord, high window, cypress pine floor, high ceiling and a lot of wooden stairs in the house. Young generation will have no idea about it without seeing the Rocks terrace. Modern apartments won't be able to tell this story and it's going to quite ordinary to most of young generation.

* Don't try reconcile high rise to historical site
Reconciling high rise to historical site is not going to work in the heritage precinct. Each laneway, street, stairs have its own history as well as each terrace also has its own name, own history about who was living there, what did they do. Building a high rise in the middle of the Rocks, it is not going to bizarre in the area. There are a lot of places in Sydney fit high rise but definitely not in the Rocks.
For all of these, it is highly recommended that all Sydney sider should be able to notify the proposal instead of just the neighborhood. Let the public to judge what is right or wrong.

Kind regards

Aileen Liang
13 Carahers Lane
The Rocks NSW 2000