Bathla Group: Apartment proposal for 225 Croatia Ave, Edmondson Park rejected

A $62m residential and commercial precinct featuring a childcare facility in a booming southwest Sydney suburb has been rejected due to a number of planning shortfalls.

A $62m development at Edmondson Park has been rejected by the Western Sydney Planning Panel.

A proposal for a $62m residential and commercial precinct featuring a childcare facility in a booming southwest Sydney suburb has been rejected due to a number of planning shortfalls.

Plans had been lodged with Liverpool Council on behalf of developer Bathla Group for a mixed-used site on 225 Croatia Ave, Edmondson Park – about 1km from the Ed Square shopping centre.

The proposal included the construction of six residential buildings with a total of 219 one, two and three bedroom apartments and two shop top housing developments.

The plans included 615sq m of retail space across five premises in the shop top development, including a loading dock, foyers and communal open spaces.

A three-level childcare centre was also proposed for 93 children and would’ve had multiple play rooms, outdoor play areas, bathrooms and a foyer, employing 21 staff.

A $62m development at Edmondson Park has been rejected by the Western Sydney Planning Panel.

However, the proposal was referred onto the Sydney Western City Planning Panel where the plans were refused due to various reasons, including “development information that was inconsistent with several environmental planning policies”.

Of particular concern, planning panel documents state the proposal had “not adequately responded” to planning policies in several areas, including solar access, ventilation, acoustic and visual privacy and internal amenities for residents.

A $62m development at Edmondson Park has been rejected by the Western Sydney Planning Panel.

The plans also provided insufficient documentation on the location of mailboxes and fire hydrants and inadequate storage was listed as “some storage areas are blocked by car spaces”.

In regards to the childcare, the proposal failed to “address mitigation of fire risk”.

“The site falls within a bush fire zone and the statement of environmental effects states that a bushfire report has been prepared but this has not formed part of this development application,” documents state.

The proposal also failed to provide fit-out plans or children numbers based on age groups “to ensure compliance with relevant guidelines”.

The planning panel also found the retail space in the shop tops was “unacceptable” as documents provided “no evidence” the development could support the food and drink activities.

“The site is just over 800m from the Edmondson Park town centre … the plans show no amenities to support this activity and concern is raised that these spaces will remain unoccupied with limited opportunity for alternative uses,” documents state.

Bathla Group has been contacted for comment.