2016 DA

2016 Bronte RSL DA in L&E Court on Oct 4th

On 23 December 2016 new developer Danny Avidan and Rafi Assouline lodged 2 new planning applications for the Bronte RSL site that will have a huge impact on our neighbourhood and take us back to the days of 2012. So whilst you were planning Christmas and/or holidays with family and friends they were planning to make even more money with a new Bronte RSL DA.

Despite publicly promising to build only the approved 2015 DA with its 21 apartments, Danny and Rafi put in a  new DA to build an extra storey, 7 extra apartments and a ‘commercial space’ in Chesterfield Lane.

If this passes and zoning limits are breached, other large scale developments can and will follow. The unique character of Bronte will be lost.

The two applications are:

  1. A new DA – DA 571/2016
  2. A Section 96 amendment application for the approved 2015 DA – this application is DA 264/2015/B

The new 2016 DA is:

  • Too big – 48% above the allowable floor area. A great big imposing eyesore.
  • Too tall – our estimate is 21.9 metres at the centre of the site. A massive 8.9 m above the 13 metre height limit
  • Too dangerous – with a “commercial space” actually built in Chesterfield Lane, we will see commercial trucks and traffic driving through a high child pedestrian area which includes the Clovelly Public School, Clovelly Scout Hall and Bronte Early Education childcare centre.
  • Too ugly – a great big ugly monolithic brick on its side with minimal green open space. It will detract from our neighbourhood

In short, too many rules are broken with too many negative and adverse impacts on our community and neighbourhood.

The Details

DA 571/2016:

  1. Too big
    • The building is of an inappropriate size and scale. The FSR is at least 1.48:1 which is almost 50% above the allowable limit of 1:1.
    • The proposed commercial space is an inappropriate use for a narrow residential lane.
    • It will set a precedent for Macpherson St leading to a mini-Bondi Junction being built in our neighbourhood.
  2. Too tall
    • we estimate at the centre of the site the building is 21.9 m in height which is 8.9 m above the 13 m height limit.
    • the new 5th storey (level 4) is approximately 3.8 m above the height of the previously approved building at the sides
    • at Chesterfield Lane the new apartments break the height limit there by about 1.7 m (9.55 m in 7.8 m zone)
  3. Too dangerous
    • The proposed commercial space on Chesterfield Lane would lead to commercial trucks and traffic driving through a high child pedestrian area which includes the Clovelly Public School, Clovelly Scout Hall and Bronte Early Education childcare centre.
    • Additional 18 car parks are proposed for the site. Again extra traffic driving through an area high in child pedestrians.
    • The lane is not designed for this sort of traffic. It is predominantly a rear access lane for residential houses.
    • Service vehicles for the completed development are not permitted to use Chesterfield Lane under the conditions imposed by the WDAP in the 2015 Bronte RSL DA approval. A commercial space on the lane would lead to this condition being breached.
  4. Too close
    • the setbacks at the sides are non-compliant in our view
  5. Too much overshadowing
    • the cumulative impact of the approved DA and the new DA would reduce solar access to about 2 hours only, for properties to the rear of the site at the winter solstice. This does not comply with the Waverley DCP which requires a minimum of 3 hours solar access for adjoining properties.
  6. Too ugly – poor design
    • Monolithic horizontal character with solid heavy lift cores pronounced at both ends.
    • Excessive height when viewed locally compared to the predominantly 1 to 3 storey surrounding buildings including the Oceanview’s 2 storey base at street level.
    • minimal open space
    • minimal ‘deep soil planting’ area
    • The proposed new units on Chesterfield Lane have minimal solar access. The ones in the middle may not get any winter solar access.

These areas of non-compliance and other issues have unacceptable negative impacts on surrounding residences, on our neighbourhood centre and on our suburb.
Impacts include:

Unacceptable negative impacts of the proposed development include:

  1. Danger, from commercial trucks and traffic, to the high number of children and their families using the Chesterfield Parade/St Thomas St area. e.g. Clovelly Public School, the Clovelly Scout Hall and the Bronte Early Education Childcare Centre.
  2. Loss of visual amenity and of the streetscape character of our neighbourhood due to excessive visual height and bulk.
  3. Approval has the potential to lead to further excessively sized developments in the neighbourhood centre which is not appropriate given its location, infrastructure and zoning.
  4. Increased pressure on already strained local infrastructure, such as parking and public transport, which is not sufficient for such a large scale development.
  5. Loss of privacy and solar access to surrounding residences.
  6. Increased commercial, service and residential traffic in a narrow rear-access lane designed for low volume residential traffic.
  7. The noise conditions and prescribed construction hours are not unreasonable and should not be modified as the impact on neighbouring residences will be too great.

The proposed development does not comply with important parts of the WLEP and the WDCP. These substantial variations do not lead to a ‘better outcome’ and have negative effects on the neighbourhood centre and surrounding neighbourhood. The variations requested as so great that it is inappropriate to ask for them in a DA.

The DA should be refused and the redevelopment should proceed as permitted in DA 264/2015.