The “elephant in the room” identified by UrbanGrowth NSW’s Program Developer Troy Daly, and the primary source of concern for participants, was the newly proposed 20-storey towers. This is an approximate 20 per-cent increase in size from the originally approved plans that presented a maximum height of 12 storeys.
The buildings, which would accommodate approximately 710 apartments, would be situated along Wilson Street, Iverys Lane and the railway line. The area’s heritage listing was a topic for discussion, along with questions regarding the aesthetics of a 20-storey building in an area that is largely low-level terrace housing.
Mr Daly acknowledged these concerns, saying simply, “people like the sky, and this would interrupt the sky”.
Vocal community member and resident of Holdsworth Street in Newtown, Tim Hill, passionately expressed his disproval, particularly regarding UrbanGrowth’s lack of community engagement. “I was hoping to see at least 250 to 300 people here,” said Tim, estimating that there were 150 people in attendance. “It’s sad, it’s desperately sad.” In regards to the apartment complex, he said, “It directly affects me. [The building] will completely obliterate any sun that we have.”
Other topics for debate included the design for the open-air portion of the proposal, with access a prominent concern among participants. Questions were also raised about how to deal with the expected increase of traffic to the area.
Jenny Leong, Member for Newtown and former Wilson Street resident, was in attendance expressing her disapproval for the plans. “It is really clear that the community is highly engaged, and if it wasn’t clear to UrbanGrowth before, I think it should be very clear to them now, that this community is not going to lie down while they seek to sell what is our neighbourhood.”
She encourages any concerned residents to get in contact with her office.
When questioned, Mr Daly assured attendees that UrbanGrowth would take the community’s concerns on board and continue to run events to engage the public in the planning process. “We will come back to this group, but we will also touch all groups,” he said. “We do particular events for young people, for specific Aboriginal consultation and for social housing tenants, too, who react quite differently.”
“The scale of our task is about the next hundred years and all the communities that will live here and want to come here, as well as everyone who is already a resident,” said Mr Daly.
Concluding the evening, a show of hands was taken, with the overwhelming majority indicating that they are not in support of the proposal as it stands.
