Balmain Leagues Club: Locals lash out over ‘hideous’ development plans
The 16-year battle to rebuild the dilapidated Balmain Leagues Club just got “ugly”, according to residents furious with the latest development plans.
Inner West
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The 16-year battle to rebuild the dilapidated Balmain Leagues Club just got ugly.
That’s the verdict from hundreds of locals, who have taken to social media to slam the proposed design, labelling it a “total clusterf--k” which is “hideous and unimaginative”.
Heworth Holdings Group, which owns the site at 152 Victoria Rd, Rozelle, previously secured approval for a 12-storey mixed-use development but is yet to demolish the graffiti-clad, burnt-out shell of the once-popular club, which was damaged in a 2022 fire.
Instead, after putting the project on hold, it recently unveiled $285m expanded plans involving a 16-storey tower with 227 new homes.
The proposal has been panned by locals, with most of the 210 comments made about the proposal on the Balmain Living community Facebook group post expressing outrage.
“They have clearly taken advantage of the affordable housing scheme to add more stories it is so ugly & I cannot even imagine the impact on the traffic,” one local said.
“It’s not only ugly but an abomination indeed. Such drastically over scaled development in this location,” another said.
“Architecture at its most hideous and unimaginative.”
Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne also raised concerns over Heworth, a Chinese developer, halting construction of the 12-storey development in order to expand its plans.
“This is frustrating news,” he said.
“This derelict building is a dangerous eyesore that should have been knocked down many years ago.
“Perhaps the Balmain Leagues Club site is cursed.
“This planning fiasco has dragged on for far too long.”
This proposal marks the latest chapter in a lengthy and complicated effort to redevelop the Rozelle site, which has been plagued by financial difficulties and abandoned plans.
The property was sold to developer Rozelle Village in 2008 but has been vacant since 2010 after planning authorities rejected an initial proposal due to strong local opposition over traffic, size, and its effects on nearby businesses.
Rozelle Village proposed another project in 2012, featuring 16- and 18-storey buildings with about 145 units, a clubhouse and a supermarket, but that plan also failed.
There was another knockback in 2014, when a revised plan for 247 units across two towers, measuring 20 and 24 storeys, was also rejected because of traffic issues.
The saga looked to be over when Heworth’s plans for the 12-storey development were later green-lit, only for those to be put on ice.
Last month, planners for the Chinese developer submitted revised the blueprints, which include a massive supermarket, a revitalised Balmain Leagues Club precinct, retail and commercial offices, as well as apartments ranging from one to three bedrooms.
The planner said the modified proposal would result in “an additional 75 apartments including 59 new affordable dwellings, to be used as affordable housing for a minimum 15 years”.
Heworth did not respond to requests for comment.
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