Another JRPP rejection in Balmain

With the Tigers rejection still fresh in the memory, the Sydney East Region Joint Planning Panel has knocked back an application to develop a 3,000 square metre property in the centre of Balmain, citing unacceptable visual bulk and scale, and excessive overshadowing impacts on neighbouring properties.

In addition to excessive scale, a crucial factor for the application’s success – the JRPP upholding the applicant’s objections to two clauses in the Leichhardt LEP – proved an insurmountable obstacle. In the event, these objections were “not considered to be well-founded or worthy of support”, according to the final assessment report.

Located at 170 Beattie Street, the property currently houses a residence and a hall. The rejected proposal sought to convert the hall into four dwellings, with the existing weatherboard residence converted into two dwellings. A further 11 dwellings were proposed to be built from scratch, along with provision for 25 car spaces, relocation of the electricity substation on the site, and the remediation of the site.

Sixty-one submissions were received in opposition to the proposal, with Council’s report reflecting the concerns which eventually led to the application’s rejection by the JRPP.

A late attempt by the applicant to submit amendments to the plan to address concerns raised by Council and residents – an hour before the meeting – was rejected by the panel. “Neither the Council officers, nor the neighbours, had a chance to assess the impact on their properties,” said Leichhardt Liberal councillor Gordon Weiss.

Fellow Liberal councillor Vera-Ann Hannaford said the decision, along with the JRPP’s ruling on Tigers, helped allay prior concerns about the process, although she added the diligent work of Council staff in delivering comprehensive reports had also been important in both outcomes.

Labor councillor Darcy Byrne also welcomed the ruling, on the grounds it failed to provide adequate diversity of housing stock. “The lack of any one-bedroom units would have meant that only very expensive housing would have been built,” he said. “This ruling sends a strong message to developers in the inner west that they must start to include in their proposals housing that key workers like nurses and teachers can afford, not just luxury apartments.”

The project’s applicant and site manager, Scott Morrant, was disappointed by the outcome, but said plans for the site remained undeterred. “We were hoping for an adjournment or a deferral – we just ran out of time with some of the additional documentation required,” he said. He added a new DA for the site was in the pipeline, but declined to specify a timeframe for its submission.