On a bright autumn weekend, many people from the inner city and beyond can be spotted enjoying the green expanse that is Sydney Park. However, the spectacular view of the cityscape may soon be blocked out by sixty metre high concrete apartments.
In what Greens Councillor Irene Doutney has named “a big pimple of high rises”, developers Goodman Group plan to erect three 19 storey towers in the area between Ashmore Road and Mitchell Street, Erskineville. Goodman successfully convinced the former state government that the extra 10 storeys were necessary to the development, expanding the future population of the estate to over 5000 people.
Friends of Erskineville and long time inner city resident Brett Mason believes the construction will have a “wrecking ball” effect on the community.
“The apartments would be completely out of scale to anything around them. This puts an extra few thousand people into an area that does not have the infrastructure,” said Mr Mason. “The two closest stations are at Erskineville and St Peters, which service the same line. The trains are already at capacity and I don’t believe City Rail could increase the number of trains on those lines.”
It is feared this will lead to more cars in an area where intersections already bulge at capacity during peakhour.
Those living on Belmont Street and Mitchell Road will also suffer from severe overshadowing as the apartments will create a visual block, and what Mr Mason calls “a sense of disconnection” from the broader, village orientated Erskineville community.
“We need lower heights with proper street amenities,” said Mr Mason. “Not another strip of cafes, but other types of retail like a butchers, fruit and veg and supermarkets.”
Newly elected Premier Barry O’Farrell scrapped Part 3A of the 1979 Environmental Planning and Assessment Act in early April, which gave the Minister of Planning the power to rule over decisions by local communities.
Greens Councillor Irene Doutney hopes that this will stop the Ashmore Precinct development.
“This is a big community voice saying no, I would hope the new government listens to it.”
“Its just crazy,” said Councillor Doutney. “The company went straight to the Minister for Planning in June last year. It seems the previous state government approved anything and the closer it got to the election, the bigger the complexes. We’re trying so hard to make the city a liveable place. We should make use of these regeneration sites, but it must be the support of locals.”
