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http://www.theage.com.au/nsw/balmain-leagues-club-highrise-suffers-another-rejection-20140416-36s3r.html
Plans for high-rise buildings at the old Balmain Leagues Club site have been rejected by an independent planning authority, prompting calls for the developer to relinquish its hold on the site….....
But a ''disappointed'' Rozelle Village criticised the decision and would not rule out a future bid to redevelop the land without a home for the club.
The latest two-tower proposal was to include a space leased by the leagues club, which had transferred ownership of the site to Rozelle Village in 2009 for $1, in exchange for the developer taking on its $23.5 million debt.
The company also sought to build 247 apartments and shops across two towers, at 24 and 20 storeys high, as well as parking for 488 cars.
But the Planning Assessment Commission found the traffic and transport issues were so ''unresolvable'' that the proposal was not in the public interest.
It accepted the recommendation from Planning and Infrastructure NSW that the impact of the development outweighed any benefit, and there had been ''no workable solution'' put forward by the proponent.
The commission also rejected the company's request for an opportunity to further modify the proposal.
Leichhardt Council welcomed the decision as vindication of its long opposition to ''overdevelopment'' of the site.
Its Labor mayor, Darcy Byrne, said it was time that the developer accepted its ''grandiose vision will never become reality''.
''The developer has now had three attempts, over three years, to get an approval for 32- or 25-storey skyscrapers, and failed every time,'' Cr Byrne said. ''It would be best for all concerned if Rozelle Village sold the site on to someone with a more realistic expectation of what can be built.''
But Rozelle Village managing director Ian Wright, who criticised the council's opposition to the plans, said the issue was ''none of Darcy Byrne's business''.
''We own the land, not him,'' he said. ''Not the council. Not the Tigers. We will decide what we do with the land.
''We've held that site for five years without any development on it, so we're not in a rush to make any decisions at the moment.''
Mr Wright said that regardless of whether the Tigers were returned to their spiritual home, ''there needs to be a development on that site''.
''In relation to us proceeding without the club, well, we haven't considered that but we are in uncharted waters at the moment, so we won't rule anything out,'' he said.
The club has borrowed about $8 million from the developer to keep functioning in temporary accommodation, while successive plans for the project have failed to win approval.
The relationship came to a head last month when a court granted an injunction preventing Rozelle Village from placing the club into receivership. The two parties have been ordered into mediation but are facing a four-day hearing in August if they cannot reach an agreement this month.
The club's spokesman, Daniel Munk, said the ''priority goal'' was to return the Tigers to Balmain. ''We believe there are a couple of opportunities that we are discussing with people at the moment,'' he said. ''Rozelle Village has the belief that it has to be a very high multistorey building … but there are others who have different views.''
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/balmain-leagues-club-highrise-suffers-another-rejection-20140416-36s3r.html#ixzz2z8Eiu1oH
Plans for high-rise buildings at the old Balmain Leagues Club site have been rejected by an independent planning authority, prompting calls for the developer to relinquish its hold on the site….....
But a ''disappointed'' Rozelle Village criticised the decision and would not rule out a future bid to redevelop the land without a home for the club.
The latest two-tower proposal was to include a space leased by the leagues club, which had transferred ownership of the site to Rozelle Village in 2009 for $1, in exchange for the developer taking on its $23.5 million debt.
The company also sought to build 247 apartments and shops across two towers, at 24 and 20 storeys high, as well as parking for 488 cars.
But the Planning Assessment Commission found the traffic and transport issues were so ''unresolvable'' that the proposal was not in the public interest.
It accepted the recommendation from Planning and Infrastructure NSW that the impact of the development outweighed any benefit, and there had been ''no workable solution'' put forward by the proponent.
The commission also rejected the company's request for an opportunity to further modify the proposal.
Leichhardt Council welcomed the decision as vindication of its long opposition to ''overdevelopment'' of the site.
Its Labor mayor, Darcy Byrne, said it was time that the developer accepted its ''grandiose vision will never become reality''.
''The developer has now had three attempts, over three years, to get an approval for 32- or 25-storey skyscrapers, and failed every time,'' Cr Byrne said. ''It would be best for all concerned if Rozelle Village sold the site on to someone with a more realistic expectation of what can be built.''
But Rozelle Village managing director Ian Wright, who criticised the council's opposition to the plans, said the issue was ''none of Darcy Byrne's business''.
''We own the land, not him,'' he said. ''Not the council. Not the Tigers. We will decide what we do with the land.
''We've held that site for five years without any development on it, so we're not in a rush to make any decisions at the moment.''
Mr Wright said that regardless of whether the Tigers were returned to their spiritual home, ''there needs to be a development on that site''.
''In relation to us proceeding without the club, well, we haven't considered that but we are in uncharted waters at the moment, so we won't rule anything out,'' he said.
The club has borrowed about $8 million from the developer to keep functioning in temporary accommodation, while successive plans for the project have failed to win approval.
The relationship came to a head last month when a court granted an injunction preventing Rozelle Village from placing the club into receivership. The two parties have been ordered into mediation but are facing a four-day hearing in August if they cannot reach an agreement this month.
The club's spokesman, Daniel Munk, said the ''priority goal'' was to return the Tigers to Balmain. ''We believe there are a couple of opportunities that we are discussing with people at the moment,'' he said. ''Rozelle Village has the belief that it has to be a very high multistorey building … but there are others who have different views.''
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/balmain-leagues-club-highrise-suffers-another-rejection-20140416-36s3r.html#ixzz2z8Eiu1oH
