Berlin Wall: Residents in elite suburb furious at huge project

Residents in this up-market Brisbane suburb face the prospect of staring at a shop facade four times the height of the Berlin Wall when a supermarket is replaced with a new retail precinct.

An artist's impression of how the project would look from street level, at the corner of Harry St and Stewart Rd, Ashgrove.

When Silas Burke and his partner built their dream home in Ashgrove, they had no idea they could soon be looking out on to a 15m high shopping centre wall.

Plans to demolish the Coles supermarket on Harry St and replace it with a retail precinct more than four times its size have stirred up a hornet’s nest in the prestigious westside suburb.

As well as the visual impact of the proposed four-storey Harry Street Marketplace, four times the height of the Berlin Wall, locals are worried about the impact of an extra 180 car spaces.

Woolworths and Aldi have supermarkets within 100m and there is a large fruit shop and a dozen cafes and restaurants nearby.

GoogleEarth view of the site in Ashgrove.

On Saturday mornings traffic is at a standstill on Devoy and Harry streets, Stewart Rd and Ashgrove Ave as shoppers fight to get in and out.

But developer Longfield Land Company plans to knock down the 2695sqm Coles and an adjacent medical centre on Harry St.

They want to replace them with a 5182sqm Coles and more than 5000sqm of commercial space including a large gym, restaurants, pharmacy, newsagent, optometrist, butcher and liquor store.

Coles is not the site owner or developer and is a only a potential tenant in the project.

Mr Burke said the day before excavation began on a vacant lot he bought next door ot the existing Coles, he was told by the developer that it would be demolished and rebuilt.

But it was only a fortnight ago that he and his partner discovered they could have a 15m high wall just over their fence.

“It will be 2.5m from my outdoor area and 5m from my house,’’ Mr Burke said.

“We’ll have a 15m wall wrapping around two sides of our property.

“We knew we were buying next to a retail development and we moved here (from West End and Newstead) - I know development and am not against it, but this is over the top.

“Already you can’t get a park in Harry St or Stewart Rd — over Christmas we had to jam three (visitors’) cars in the driveway because there was nowhere on the street.’’

Silas Burke fears his dream house in Ashgrove will have a 15m wall built around two sides if a retail precinct is approved.

Mr Burke said if a proposed childcare centre at the other end of Devoy St was approved as well, the character residential street would become clogged with cars.

Because the site is zoned for three to four storeys and for commercial or retail use, it is code assessable.

That means neighbours have no right to appeal it in the planning court, or even to be notified of what is going on.

Council officers were scathing of the proposal in a pre-lodgement meeting held in December.

They pointed out insufficient setbacks to neighbouring houses, the small amount of landscaping, potential for noise and odours from the restaurants, airconditioners and other plant, and blank walls on some frontages.

Town planners Project Urban, acting for the developer, was approached for comment.

“The vision for 17 Stewart Rd is to create an up-market shopping address for a varied demographic, adding to the vitality and vibrancy of the Ashgrove Village precinct,’’ the developer said in their application to Council.

“It is further envisaged that the development will become a landmark object and reference point, aiding in the navigation and understanding of the neighbourhood, being centrally located in the precinct and at the terminal bus stop for the 61 City Glider.

“This high quality, landmark development will increase visual and social amenity while

improving the safety and legibility of the Ashgrove area.’’

Local Councillor, Steve Toomey, said it was very early days and there was still no “properly made’’ application which Council could consider.

He had spoken to directly affected neighbours, including Mr Burke, and Council had contacted residents to inform them of the proposal.

“It has to work, otherwise it’s hard to find support for it,’’ Cr Toomey said.

“There’s normally a line-up to get off, or on to, Harry St already.

“If the application provides a decent amount of parking that gets these cars off the street that’s a good thing.

“It comes down to the benefit to the community.’’

Cr Toomey said he would be particularly focused on efforts to minimise the visual impact on neighbouring properties.

An existing Coles supermarket wall near Silas Burke’s fence could become three times as high if a retail precinct proposal is approved, he says.

WHAT COUNCIL OFFICERS TOLD THE DEVELOPER

“Increased front setbacks are required as a means to provide an improved pedestrian environment and provide a transition to the adjoining lower intensity development to relate to the existing streetscape and setback pattern,’’ they said.

“Where these front setbacks are increased additional landscaping and deep planting should be incorporated along the frontage ... to improve the streetscape and reduce the bulk and scale of the building.

“The proposal should also provide increased front setbacks to the upper levels, especially where nearing residential uses, to better relate to the existing streetscape.

“The proposal will need to be amended to increase the side setback where adjoining residential zoned land, to a minimum 4m.

“The proposed blank building treatments along the boundary of the neighbouring properties

should be appropriately screened or treated to limit any adverse amenity impact.

“Considering the nature of the proposed development in the context of the surrounding

neighbourhood, a core focus of the proposal should be the activation of the frontage along

Stewart Rd and Harry St to better promote intensive activation of the ground storey with highly active non-residential uses which encourage the greatest degree of pedestrian activity and interaction.

“The siting of the escalators along the majority of Harry St is a poor outcome for street activation, so should be reconsidered.

“The proposed building layout demonstrates a significant lack of deep planting. The development must provide deep planting areas throughout the development for the purposes of establishing large subtropical shade trees to balance the bulk and scale of the building.

“As such, any future applications should provide plans which clearly provide and identify a

minimum of 10 per cent of the site area for deep planting.

“Council strongly recommends the retention of the existing Hoop Pine along the northern

boundary of the site

“Considering the context of the site, a focus on providing deep planting along the Devoy St

frontage and all side boundaries, where adjoining neighbouring residential properties, should be the focus.

“The Devoy St entry driveway needs to be two lanes in and one lane out.

“The side-by-side left and right turn lanes are not supported under Austroads Guidelines.

“On entry, number plate recognition infrastructure should be provided and/or planned for

early to elevate the need for long queuing areas at entry that could affect the external

road network.

“The right turn from the first circulation aisle inside the driveway needs to made one-way

down to prevent congestion at the exit point. Alternatively, it could be made “left only” out

of this aisle.

“Air emissions for the proposed basement car parks and the presence of various restaurant/

cooking venues and their location to on-site and adjacent sensitive uses, have the potential to

impact on the air quality amenity of such sensitive land uses/zoning.’’

Overhead view of the proposed development.

WHAT THE DEVELOPER TOLD COUNCIL OFFICERS

“There is a distinct stepping down on the on the building mass to match the slope of the topography.

“The base is treated with heavier and more durable stone and tile while the upper storeys are lighter, glazed, and recessed from the base – creating an identifiable commercial and retail component of the development, while tied together though a natural palette of colours and materials.

“The form and scale of the proposed development will further act as a landmark feature Within the precinct.

“The signage pylons/lift cores and corner steel trellis structure, with its reduced setbacks to the street frontages, help to define the immediate precinct, announcing a new ‘local heart’.

“Landscape elements further break down the scale of the building providing a subtropical vernacular to the development.

“The facade design has been considered to create a visually appealing architectural aesthetic to the street front using an ordered rhythm of columns surmounted by a recessed or darker recessive look to the upper floors.

“The base elements offer opportunities for pocket landscaping to grow up the building facade.

“Material textures and layers of different size screening provide visual interest and depth to the facade as well as a sense of lightness.

“A stone base provides solidity in anchoring the development in the sloping site.’’

“Service areas are enclosed within the building facade and are not expected to adversely impact on neighbouring residential properties.

“Rooftop condenser decks will be provided and will be screened with a solid, gap free barrier.

“The interface with the Devoy Street frontage and adjoining residential boundary have been more extensively treated to soften and obscure the built form.

“The height and scale of planting proposed along these boundaries effectively screens the development and creates an attractive interface and visual interest.

“Furthermore, the Stewart Rd and Harry St frontages include extensive screening landscaping to soften the built forms interface and create an attractive environment for the surrounding land uses.

“These frontages include vertical planter walls, low shrubs and ground cover planting, street trees to provide visual interest and maintain sightlines.

“In relation to the existing hoop pine along the northern boundary of the site, Independent

Arboricultural Services have undertaken an assessment of the tree and identified health and

structural stability issues.’’

But it conceded it could not meet the minimum 10 per cent deep planting required by Council.

It also said there would be a 4m setback adjacent to residential areas, a 5m setback on Stewart Rd and shadowing diagrams indicated acceptable shadowing of neighbouring houses.