Mirvac wins the race for Harold Park

Property development company Mirvac has bought Glebe’s Harold Park and the approval to build a residential and commercial complex, valued at an estimated $1 billion.

Mirvac and sellers the NSW Harness Racing Club would not say how much the site sold for, but estimates range between $150 to $200 million.

A public meeting of Annandale, Forest Lodge and Glebe locals on December 7 stated there was broad support for plans to allocate 35 per cent of the site to public open space and build 50 affordable housing units, but said other matters of great community concern had been ignored.

President of the Glebe Society, Lesley Lynch, said the community wanted eight-storey buildings reduced to five storeys – the height of the escarpment – and the proposed density reduced by 20 per cent relative to 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, but issued a statement defending City of Sydney Council’s consultation process. “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,” the statement said.

City of Sydney 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 1,500 cars living on that site. Where are they all going to go?” he asked.

“What we want to see is housing delivered by the developer – and that’s not going to happen. We can require them to do things – we give them something and they give us something in return. [But the Local Environment Plan] is taking 5,000 metres, approximately, of what is public space, and they’re just labelling that space for affordable housing – so where’s the housing going to come from?”

A Mirvac spokesperson said Stage One of the project was scheduled for completion in 2014, but could not elaborate on what this involved.

In the meantime, the final ‘run of the trots’ took place on Friday, December 17, bringing to a close 120 years of harness racing at the paceway.