Rezoning Maccabi: tennis club under threat
Image: A Rescue Bondi campaign poster / Photo: Rescue Bondi
Forty-nine parking spaces and 42 new apartments is what awaits the Maccabi Tennis club in Bondi, should an application to rezone the site be approved.
The tennis courts at 105 Wellington St at Bondi Beach have been in situ for over 70 years and concerns have been raised whether they will now be rezoned into an R3 medium density residential site.
Co-founder of Rescue Bondi Gabrielle Tobias said the site is a “fantastic, large recreational space” which is privately owned by Sports Properties Pty Ltd but frequently used by residents for tennis court hire and racquet services.
Mayor Sally Betts said Waverley Council rejected a previous rezoning application for the site in November 2010, with the primary concern being the loss of open space.
“The locals were concerned about traffic [implications which] should be taken into consideration … but certainly from my perspective and I think Council’s perspective, the overall great concern is about open space and how little we have,” she said.
“The only benefit [will be] to the developers – the financial windfall – and it’s going to cost the community,” Ms Tobias added.
“We will lose three tennis courts and Waverley loses 4,000 square metres of recreation space. Whether it’s tennis courts, or squash courts or a pool, it’s still recreation and not more flats in Bondi,” said Ms Tobias.
Ms Betts said Waverley was the most densely populated area in Australia and access to recreational space was increasingly important for its residents.
“Our census information tells us that 17 per cent of our population are under 14. We need to make sure we have significant sporting recreation space for those kids,” Ms Betts said.
“We know that our ratio of open space per population is less than the average and so it is a unique situation in Waverley where we just simply do not have enough open recreational space for our residents.”
Councillor John Wakefield said currently there was a lack of supply in the availability of tennis facilities in Bondi and the planning proposal would be of detriment to residents in terms of increasing parking and traffic movements within the area.
“The first issue is not what the alternative is, but [whether] we want to lose this one,” Mr Wakefield said. “This is the only tennis facility that I’m aware of in the Bondi Basin area … one of a handful in the Eastern suburbs.
“If we do approve a rezone, what are the consequences in that neighbourhood from the redevelopment of open space style area to high density living area? And if we do lose it, how do we replace it?”
Ms Tobias echoed these sentiments, arguing the increase in traffic pressures may result in “a rabbit warren of roads [surrounding] the site”.
The planning proposal is currently being assessed by Waverley Council officers and is expected to be put forward at the Council meeting next month.
