HHT urges that approval is not given to vary the the existing height envelope contained in the SCRA Scheme. The existing height envelope should continue to be applied to this site as it will ensure the preservation of the important scale-relationship that exists with the two and three storey 19th century terrace house forms in Gloucester Street and Harrington Street.

The relatively minor height exceedance of Building 2 should be permitted as the range of design modifications made to Building 2 make it an acceptable neighbour to the Bakers Terraces that will enhance and activate the street level and courtyards. HHT supports the adaptive reuse of the Bakers Terraces for residential and retail use as their overall form and street frontage will be preserved. HHT notes the interiors of the terraces have been largely altered.

Despite the extensive modifications that have been made to the design of Building 1 - particularly the articulation of the street facades, and the detailed design of materials and forms - HHT remains opposed to the height and mass of Building 1 which we believe will be totally out of character with the adjacent terrace forms. Building 1 in fact appears to have a more comfortable scale relationship with other large commercial buildings immediately east of Harrington Street such as the DFS Galleria and the former NSW State Archives than with the terrace house forms. The introduction of the lowered parapet lines and referencing of terrace house forms in the articulation of the Gloucester Street elevation is welcomed.

HHT acknowledges the quality of the design, materiality and physical expression of the built forms proposed in the fjmt scheme, but does not accept that Building 1 is the best design response that can be achieved at this site given the consideration of its context and neighbours.

Despite the reshaping of the roof form and the introduction of setbacks, the total height of the building is only marginally reduced, and the building remains massively over-scaled in relation to most of the neighbouring sites. As HHT commented in our original submission, Gloucester Street presents a rare sight anywhere in central Sydney of contiguous terrace houses built over a long period from the 1840s until the early 1900s but presenting an unusual degree of consistency and harmony of form and scale. The introduction of a building as large as Building 1 would permanently destroy that unique visual character and is presumably why the SCRA Scheme defined the height envelope at RL 41.

The proposed exceedance is not minimal, but actually 8.3 metres to the high point of the curved roof form. HHT does not agree with the evaluation made by URBIS in the Heritage Impact Statement that taking into account the range of design modifications that have been made the project is now able to be supported on heritage grounds. Of course individual buildings in the precinct have local heritage significance but the streetscape and urban form of Gloucester Street has cumulative significance as a rare, relatively intact streetscape that will be significantly diminished by the presence of a very large new building.

If further reductions in height were considered, such as the elimination of the massive two and a half storey roof form, resulting in only a minor exceedance of the SCRA Scheme height envelope, HHT would reconsider its objection to the proposed development, as in other respects the design proposal is of a high standard and a more successful response to the site than the poorly resolved Harrington Court building.

I object to this Development Application SSD 7037 for a number of reasons.
The most important being the fact the application seeks a variation to the Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority Scheme (SCRA) to amend the specific building envelope for the site to permit an increase in the maximum heights of buildings permitted on the site. Under no circumstances should this be allowed. We need to preserve the height limits set by the SCRA if we submit to pressure of development we will find that more and more applications seeking variation of height restrictions will be lodged. These heights limits have been established to maintain amenity, sunlight, prevent overdevelopment and excessive pressure on existing infrastructure and manage vehicle movements around the narrow streets of The Rocks. There is no genuine reason to support this application which appears simply to maximise overdevelopment on the site.
If this application is approved, there are many owners residing in The Rocks that will be effected. They will lose views, sunlight, the right of their personal amenity and their right to retain their views and sunlight which they believed would never be taken away from them when they purchased their properties. This development application seeks to take these rights away from all residents/owners of The Rocks.
We have seen the extreme impact of the recent overdevelopment of Barangaroo on all owners of properties along York St, Kent St, Sussex St and Lime St. We should learn from our past mistakes when assessing development applications and use this gross over development as a warning and reject this application.
I live in The Rocks and want to retain the wonderful homely feel of the area, we have already seen to many residential apartment buildings approved around the Sydney foreshore and we must take a stand to retain the amenity and environment that makes The Rocks such a wonderful place to live and a draw card for tourists and visitors to the area.
The planned development is excessive and will reduce sunlight, increase the shadow envelope, traffic movement and increase the use of sewer, water, and electricity supplies all of which are already overtaxed.
I trust you consider this objection to this development application which seeks to grossly overdevelop the site. The purpose of my objection is to retain the wonderful character, heritage and visual amenity which are the real heart of The Rocks for currents residents and for future generations. Sydney currently enjoys growing tourism to The Rocks area and an increase in vehicle traffic will impact on the amenity and safety and quality of the beautiful environment. Once we give in to these development applications we will not be able to turn the clock back, it will be too late. The time to act is now, and the only outcome that is the correct outcome is rejection of this development application.
Yours faithfully,
Joyce Edmonds

THIS AREA OF THE ROCKS HAS A " HEIGHT RESTRICTION " .PRESUMABLY TO PROTECT THE INTEGRITY OF THIS HISTORICAL AREA.

PLEASE ENSURE THAT THIS HEIGHT RESTRICTION IS PRESERVED, AND THAT THIS DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL TAKES THIS INTO CONSIDERATION.

I OBJECT TO THIS PROPOSAL IN ITS EXISTING FORM BECAUSE OF THE HEIGHT REQUEST.

Confirmed

The proposal to demolish a 1980s building that was carefully designed to fit into the streetscape , in the vicinity of two important state heritage listed items - The Jobbins Terrace and Susannah Place, and the proposed replacement of the building with a larger building is contrary to the overalls aims for The Rocks Conservation Area. New buildings within the historic area to the north of the Cahill Expressway have set building envelopes designed to complement the nineteenth century townscape. This proposal seeks a larger envelope but does not demonstrate that it contributes to the long term conservation of the historic area. Adapting the current building for a new use would be a more sustainable solution.

The proposed development's size and scale dwarfs the heritage-listed terraces along Gloucester Street including the much visited Susannah's Place Museum and Shop.

It is important to note The Rocks is Australia's pre-eminent heritage-listed precinct where conserving the historical integrity of the existing streetscape is crucial. The 9/10 storey buildings proposed on both Harrington Street and Gloucester streets are not in keeping with the surrounding streetscape's height and scale and look totally out of character.

These building's height should be reduced to a 6 storey MAXIMUM so they do not dominate the streetscape and surrounding heritage terraces.

The development's height must be reduced so it falls within the approved height limits of the area. These height limits have been set to protect the character and existing streetscape of The Rocks.

The height limits have been set as maximum building height which may be achieved by any proposed development, not as a starting point.