Rezoning will lead to skyscrapers: Mayor
Image: Render of the proposed Rozelle Village development
Leichhardt Mayor Darcy Byrne has labelled his Council a “joke” after it proposed to severely limit the potential development of the former Balmain Leagues Club site.
Council called for the site to be rezoned at a floor-space ratio of 1:1 for commercial development and 1.5:1 for mixed-use development, which would amount to a reduction of the currently disused buildings.
Mr Byrne said such a rezoning is likely to result in the NSW Government retaining control of the site and approving skyscrapers. His amendment, which would have opposed the rezoning and allowed for development in the vicinity of six or eight storeys, was rejected at last Tuesday’s ordinary meeting of Council.
“The days of Leichhardt Council being considered a joke among other local governments and levels of government, which has been too often the case, have to come to an end,” said Mr Byrne.
“Pretending to support a sensible development, but then rezoning the site to something smaller than the current derelict structure, is plainly hypocritical.
“[I] came to the view that rezoning the site as has now occurred … would result in the [State] Government refusing to ever hand the site back to Leichhardt Council, and approving skyscrapers on the site instead.”
The O’Farrell Government is considering a scaled-back proposal by international developers for a 24-storey development, which the Mayor opposes. Before the 2011 election, the Coalition promised to hand back control for some sites which had been assumed under the previous Labor government’s notorious Part 3A planning regulation.
Mr Byrne said a modest redevelopment had broad support among the thousands of residents he has consulted.
“The vast majority of people acknowledge there should be a sensible development that delivers new commercial, some new homes and allows the much loved club to return to its spiritual home. The Council has essentially turned its back on that option,” he said.
Mark Wallis of the Save Rozelle residential group applauded Council’s decision and launched a scathing attack on the Mayor, accusing him of misinterpreting the implications and consequences of the rezoning.
“I don’t think he has the level of understanding about the processes that he should have given his position,” he said.
“Saying that the state government is going to hold on to [the site] is just rubbish. There’s no mechanism by which they can do that.”
Mr Wallis said the Save Rozelle group would consider supporting development that exceeded a floor-space ratio of 1.5:1 if it were in-step with the surrounding streetscape and community expectations.
