Mirvac to develop Harold Park
Property development company Mirvac has bought Glebe’s Harold Park and the approval to build an estimated $1 billion dollar residential and commercial complex.
Mirvac and sellers the NSW Harness Racing Club would not say how much the site sold for, but estimates are between $150 million to $200 million.
A public meeting of Annandale, Forest Lodge and Glebe locals on December 7, said they appreciated plans for 35 per cent public open space and 50 affordable housing units, but said other matters of great community concern had been ignored.
President of the Glebe Society Lesley Lynch said people want eight-storey buildings reduced to five-storeys – the height of the escarpment – and proposed density returned to 20 per cent lower than the revised plans.
The Society issued a ten-point list of concerns, including high-density, building height, traffic and environmental concerns and inadequate community space within the tramsheds, which will largely be used for commercial purposes.
“There’s nothing in the controls to stop a big, massive retail or commercial enterprise going in there,” Ms Lynch said.
“We would be very hopeful that [Mirvac] approach us early in the piece so we can work collaboratively in the design of a DA.”
A Mirvac spokesperson would not comment on whether the company would negotiate with community groups, and issued the following statement:
“The City of Sydney has been facilitating the extensive community consultation process which to-date has resulted in a very good outcome for all stakeholders, balancing community needs and amenity, while assisting City of Sydney to meet residential and worker targets set by the State Government and by Sustainable Sydney 2030.”
“We would like to see the Council put in a control that says the extension of the tramway into the CBD is essential. Now I know its meant to be happening, but how many things have we seen in public transport that were meant to happen that haven’t.”
“Between the site and the back road is a huge contaminated hill – something has to be done with that. At the moment, the walkway there has been closed off because the contamination has become obvious.”
Greens Councillor Chris Harris shares many of the Society’s concerns.
“If it’s anything like the parking allowance proposed for the CUB site at Chippendale, we can expect to see 1500 cars living on that site – Where are they all going to go?
“What we want to see is housing delivered by the developer, – and that’s not going to happen. [The Local Environment Plan] is taking 5000 metres, approximately, of what is public space, and they’re just labeling that space for affordable housing – So where’s the housing going to come from?,” he said.
“We can require them to do things – we give them something and they give us something in return.”
Stage one of the project is scheduled for completion in 2014, said a Mirvac spokesperson, who couldn’t elaborate on what this meant.
After 120 years of harness racing at Harold Park, the final race will be on the night of Friday December 17.
by Lawrence Bull
