City’s planning controls undergo facelift

The City of Sydney is tabling an extensive set of planning controls which will impact on the development of its suburbs.

Residents and councillors are keeping a keen eye on those to shape the futures of Erskineville and Chippendale.

The Local Environment Plan (LEP) and the Draft Sydney Development Control Plan (DCP) 2010 have been devised over five years with the aim of creating a unified set of planning controls that will apply to the Sydney Local Government Area as part of the Council’s vision for Sustainable Sydney 2030.

A spokesperson for the City of Sydney Council said the proposed developments will be of great benefit to the local residential communities as the Council seeks to protect the heritage of existing suburbs.

“We’ve visited every site and provided height controls that are consistent with the heritage status of every building. It’s about preserving the existing building stock, the internal fabric of the community and making the most of that,” he said.

However, the LEP has attracted a wide array of dissent from Erskineville community members who are unhappy with the change to height controls, together with proposed housing for more than 5000 new residents within the area which will cause greater traffic congestion.

At a committee meeting last week, the vice-president of the Friends of Erskineville society, Andrew Marshall, said the LEP was inconsistent in its aims and that it failed to accommodate for existing heritage sites.

“Erskineville is surrounded by unique conservation and heritage areas,” he said. “This LEP development is not consistent with the community feel of keeping ‘a village’ within the area.”

Councillor Irene Doutney said after Monday’s Council meeting that she voted against the Sydney LEPs with Councillor Chris Harris “to prevent a slew of inappropriate development”.

“I gave extra attention to Erskineville because of the controversial Ashmore Estate development,” she  said.  “However looking more closely at the plans and community submissions it became apparent that there were problems beyond just Ashmore.”

The Council’s decision to omit  Clause 37, which would allow for mixed development in Chippendale under the proviso the buildings would not be a detriment to the suburb’s character, upset community members.

A spokesperson for the Coalition of Chippendale Community Groups maintained that the clause had historically protected residential housing stock and amenity within the area, yet now there was nothing to stand in the way of the Council’s developmental agenda.

“Chippendale is a unique suburb, located at the city’s door. It’s the only suburb in Sydney that isn’t [just] residential, isn’t high-rise but is heritage,” she said.

“They want to retain the fabric of the suburb, but without the community – the soul of Chippendale – then the essence of our suburb is lost.

By Daniel Paperny