Flying high in Bondi

BY CAROLINE WAGNER

Proposed high rises in west Bondi have caused controversy for exceeding the existing height restrictions.

The residential towers, located on Oxford Street and Nelson Street, will each be 38 metres high.

Waverley Council’s Local Environmental Plan (LEP) 2012 states that the buildings cannot be higher than 15 metres, though a proposal to loosen the restrictions has been lodged with the council.

Waverley Labor Councillor Paula Masselos said the proposed towers were “way over height… certainly in breach of the LEP, big time. “If the development goes ahead, the LEP will have to be changed…to accommodate it,” Clr Masselos said.

“The community certainly feels that [the buildings] are inappropriate and will create all sorts of issues, including traffic congestion, issues with parking and pedestrian safety.

In the drawings I’ve seen it’s a very tall, fat building, which is very inappropriate for those sites.”

Community group Save West Bondi Junction raised concerns that the proposal from Stargate Property Group would be exempt from the parameters of the current design process.

City Hub understands that because the proposal is over 15 metres high, the decision whether to approve or not lies with the State Government.

Waverley Mayor Sally Betts told City Hub that the council would still have to see if there was any merit for the development, but that the State Government had decisive authority.

“If there is any merit, the State Government will arrange for a community consultation, which will happen sometime in 2016,” Clr Betts said.

The Waverley Council meeting will be held on December 15.