Residents oppose Zetland tower

West Kensington residents fear a new development at Victoria Park in Zetland will plunge their homes into shadow.

The Development Application for the site proposes four interconnected buildings to house 294 new apartments, commercial space and a child care centre.

Resident spokesperson Tim Kyle said the impact of the proposed 26-storey development, on the corner of South Dowling and O’Dea Streets, wouldn’t only affect residents.

“The consequence of having an extremely tall building along South Dowling is not just all these people in West Kensington,” he said.

“You’ve got the principal access between Sydney Airport and the city, and Council seems quite prepared to put these massive buildings just crowding out that access way … set back only 10 metres from that principal gateway.”

Mr Kyle said the effect on his suburb would be profound.

“The area is almost exclusively one-level heritage conservation houses … where those buildings could go, is as the crow flies only about 50 metres from our homes,” he said.

“We’re talking about an 80 metre building … less than 50 metres from a house. The biggest effect is the shadowing … just for the northern building it’s going to impact 40 houses.”

Mr Kyle wanted it made clear that he was not opposed to development in Victoria Park but said a more appropriate location for the tower would be along Defries Avenue, set further back in the precinct.

“That would give you that transition into Victoria Park, it won’t be Victoria Park just dominating and being an ugly encroachment on that main gateway,” he said.

Mr Kyle said he hoped Council would fight for a favourable outcome, as it had done in regard to a Meriton development in Victoria Park last year.

But he said the fact that Victoria Park had been sold off to a number of different developers meant that Council was “struggling with a piecemeal approach to determining appropriate development in that corridor.”

“Victoria Park is supposed to be a predominantly low-rise development site and there are serious questions about whether the council understands the predominant six-storey height restrictions that the Victoria Park Master Plan imposes,” he said.

Another issue with the development is that it is on City of Sydney Council land, while the affected residents in West Kensington live in the Randwick Council area.

“The City of Sydney planners … their interest ends where the City of Sydney jurisdiction ends. They are just unconcerned about impacts on residents in surrounding jurisdictions,” Mr Kyle said.

“Council can’t just look at the line on the map and say anything that happens on that side of the map is irrelevant.”

Randwick City Council had also made an official objection, he said.

A spokesperson for Randwick City Council confirmed a submission had been made.

“Issues raised in the submission include traffic, building height, over-shadowing and open space,” the spokesperson said.

City News asked City of Sydney Council for a comment, but they failed to respond before deadline.