Hornsby Council call for design excellence following refusal of $8.4 million Waitara development

UNLESS a development application showcases the best designers have to offer, do not expect it to be approved in Hornsby. The message comes after Hornsby Council rejected a $8.4 million development application for Waitara

UNLESS a development application showcases the best designers have to offer, do not expect it to be approved in Hornsby.

Hornsby Mayor Philip Ruddock and the council’s local planning panel want to raise the bar when it comes to urban design following what they have described as years of ugly development across the shire.

The Hornsby Independent Hearing and Assessment Panel recently refused an $8.4 million development application for 29 units at 29 Balmoral St, claiming the application failed to “achieve design excellence”.

The proposal included the construction of two apartment blocks up to five storeys high and two levels of underground parking.

“The communal open space areas do not enhance residential amenity and provide adequate opportunities for landscaping,” the panel said in its determination.

“The proposed development does not comply with the prescriptive measures and desired outcomes of Hornsby Development Control Plans with respect to desired future character, site frontage, setbacks, landscaping, built form and separation, open space, universal housing design and vehicular access and parking.”

Cr Ruddock, who is in New York for talks at the United Nations, said he believed residents would support the decision of council and the panel.

“We want buildings that display a certain standard of design excellence and we are conducting a review to ensure that happens in the future,” he said.

“For a long time, the Hornsby shire has been burdened by development that does not fit the nature of the shire and that needs to change.”

The developer argued the design “embodies the desired future character statement associated with the Balmoral St, Waitara, precinct” and met the detailed planning controls.

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