Council questions lack of say in Rozelle Village

Community activists are still in gridlock with developers of the Balmain Leagues Club site following the release of a revised development proposal last week.

The revised high-rise proposal is 21 per cent ‘slimmer’ and 23-metres lower than its predecessor but is still generating concerns from the predominately low-rise Rozelle area.

Labor Mayor of Leichhardt, Darcy Byrne said Council is currently assessing the new proposal but questioned the similar nature of the design to its
predecessor, which was slated to be 32-storeys high.

“At first glance it still looks a lot like a skyscraper,” he said.

Mr Byrne outlined his opposition to the State Government’s control over approval of the project, citing Premier Barry O’Farrell’s election commitment to “return planning control to local communities”.

“It does seem as though the influence of developers of Rozelle Village carries more weight than the premier’s word,” he said. “At this stage it’s going to be determined behind closed doors in Macquarie St without local people having any say at all.”

The planned $333 million redevelopment of the Balmain Leagues Club site attracted over 15,000 public submissions during its first exhibition period two months ago.

The NSW Department of Planning and Infrastructure is now exhibiting the revised plans, which are open for public submission until December 10. This is 30 days less than the exhibition and submission period of previous development plans.

A spokesperson for the Rozelle Residents Action Group (RRAG) expressed community concern that the project was beyond the reach of both Council and residents.

“The community needs to have a proper say and when they are dealt with by the State Department of Planning, I don’t think the community gets the same sort of say that they would at local council,” the spokesperson said.

“Their (developers) true intention is to milk as much out of the site as possible, and they’ll use every means at their exposal to do that.”

The spokesperson said the community “were never against the development of the site, just the scale of what had been proposed was what we were against from the very beginning”.

Managing Director of Rozelle Village, Ian Wright proposed the revised development plans, following a six-page letter from the Department of Planning and Infrastructure identifying issues with the project.

“When you factor in the State Government’s metropolitan plans for housing and so on … every opportunity they have to put reasonable development on a site, they should be taking that opportunity,” Mr Wright said.

Mr Wright said only a “selfish minority” of the community were opposed to the development and had been hijacking community consultation sessions.

“There are certain radical elements of the community that want no development at all. It’s a very selfish view that they take,” he said.

Mr Wright emphasised the economic benefits of the project, particularly the creation of 4,000 jobs during construction and the addition of 400 permanent local jobs.

By Patrick Griffiths