Boarding house approved for Renwick Street

Redfern residents are disappointed by City of Sydney Council’s decision to approve the development of a boarding house on Renwick Street.

The four-storey development will see up to 25 new tenants living in the street’s cul-de-sac on a plot of land that used to house a family of four.

“We’re disappointed but not surprised they went this way,” said Redfern resident Tracie Devlin.

Ms Devlin said residents were worried about the “sheer bulk and scale” of the building and how it would change the area’s atmosphere.

“It’s a quiet street and [this development] means the loss of a really lovely corner of Redfern.”

The council responded to residents’ concerns by recommending changes to the original proposal.

One recommendation includes the development be scaled back with the removal of three bedrooms (the equivalent of five people) from the building.

Limited parking, loss of mature trees and increased noise were concerns which were raised before Council last week.

The discussion took a nasty turn at the meeting when an objector said: “The plan is for a boatload of people to be dumped into that cul-de-sac. Come on, this isn’t Christmas Island.”

Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP was “deeply offended by the comments” and alarmed residents were objecting to the people not the development.

The frustrated residents felt their concerns were being overshadowed and lumped in with one person’s opinion.

“What makes this place good is the diversity,” said James McGlone, a resident who has lived on Renwick Street for 12 years.

“For council to use that as a tool to belittle our concerns…that was a very low point.”

Councillor Chris Harris voted for the development and said it was “comfortably within the [planning] controls” and would “attract a range of people”.

But some residents are sceptical.

Mr McGlone said Housing Commission were always successful with “profiling and mixing and matching people” but doesn’t believe a privately owned boarding house will do the same.

Another primary concern for many is speculations that the development is being pushed through under the guise of a boarding house.

“By calling it a boarding house… It’s just a way of the developer slipping under the radar of control by calling it something which it isn’t,” said Mr McGlone.

Councillor Meredith Burgmann objected to the proposal and echoed this fear at Monday night’s council meeting.

“We all support boarding houses but will it be a boarding house?” she said.

“There is nothing on paper that says this.”

But the Lord Mayor said she had “reassurance that it’s going to be used as a boarding house.”

The applicant for the development could not be reached for comment on the matter.

In the mean time, Ms Devlin said residents are banding together find other ways of opposing the development.

“People are keen to pursue any other avenues that are open.”

Mr Devlin said appealing to the Land and Environment court is an option at this stage.