Tennis court rezoning refused

The controversial proposed rezoning of the Maccabi tennis courts site has been knocked back at a Waverley Council meeting.

The chamber was filled on November 2 as objectors and supporters of the plan to rezone the Wellington Street tennis courts converged to hear councillors debate the proposal.

In a meeting that was boisterous and occasionally heated, the crowd was highly involved with the councillors, often conversing across the chamber.

The council finance, ethics and strategic planning committee (FESP) unanimously carried a recommendation that the proposal not be supported.

Labor councillor John Wakefield previously moved a motion that council not support the rezoning but that it recognise the need for a significant community facility to be built in the Bondi area and investigate suitable options for the location of a community centre.

The committee decision will need to be ratified at the November 16 council meeting.

Liberal councillor Kerryn Sloan said she hoped the council could “come to some agreement with the applicant so it doesn’t escape council control”.

The contentious proposal seeks to rezone the tennis courts at 105 Wellington Street to allow a three storey, 800 square metre block of flats and community centre for the Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe (FREE) to be built.

The plan has angered locals who have raised concerns over loss of open space and recreational facilities as well as concerns over construction noise, parking issues and traffic.

Local resident and objector Gabi Tobias addressed the meeting, pleading with councillors not to let “emotional arguments” get in the way of their decision, saying that “objective and irrefutable evidence, not emotion” was the legitimate argument.

“The many emotional arguments advanced by FREE cannot lawfully be used to influence public planning decisions,” she said.

Mayor Sally Betts echoed these sentiments.

“Everyone appreciates the wonderful services that FREE provides but these are irrelevant when we’re talking about re-zoning,” Cr Betts said.

“I will not support the re-zoning of this land.”

Cr Betts also suggested that FREE might sell the property to fund their community centre.

Ruvien Morrison, a director of FREE since 1994, addressed the meeting saying he believed the council recommendations had “failed to address the real issues” surrounding the development.

Mr Morrison said that rather than depriving the community of recreational facilities, the centre would provide facilities for the community on a “smaller scale” including a gymnasium, chess and martial arts clubs and a playground area.

Supporters of the development sought to have the matter deferred until the December council meeting to allow more time for further analysis and information.

Mr Morrison also attacked opponents of the plan, accusing them of using “dirty tactics” and describing them as “professional objectors”.

Ms Tobias said she was disappointed by Mr Morrison’s attitude.
“It is disappointing that Mr Morrison feels the need to publicly vilify residents who oppose the rezoning. The objectors, none of them professional I can assure you, also have a right to voice their concerns about the loss of irreplaceable open space and untenable traffic and parking impacts without being called names.”

– By Liam Kinkead