High rise in Campbelltown CBD rejected

THE Western Sydney City Planning Panel has rejected plans for a 21 storey high rise building in the heart of Campbelltown’s Queen St heritage precinct after a report from the NSW Heritage Council.

A 21 storey high rise building will not be built in the Campbelltown CBD.

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THE Western Sydney City Planning Panel has rejected plans for a 21 storey high rise building in the heart of Campbelltown’s Queen St heritage precinct.

The proposal was refused after a report from the NSW Heritage Council identified a risk the building’s construction would damage the historic Commercial Banking Company (CBC) building.

The proposed development did not get approval from the NSW Heritage Council. Picture: Carmela Roche

The Heritage Council also labelled the proposal an overdevelopment of the Campbelltown CBD as it breached the 32m height limit.

The building planner Michael Brown, speaking on behalf of the applicant, requested the panel defer the matter so an amended application for a 15 storey, 45m high building could be lodged with Campbelltown Council.

But the panel rejected the request for deferral after Campbelltown Council staff confirmed they would not accept a development application that exceeded their height limits.

Panel chairman Justin Doyle said the panel's hands were tied due to the heritage Council’s recommendation as the NSW Heritage Council’s approval was required.

“Their (NSW Heritage Council) criticism is not so much the height but the excavation of the car park,” he said.

Campbelltown’s historic CBC bank building.

Mr Brown expressed frustration from the developer that the NSW Heritage Council had not brought up their concerns with the applicant.

“When we read the Heritage Council report we were surprised,” he said.

Mr Brown said the application had been amended several times to set back the development from the CBC building.

Campbelltown Airs Historical Society president Kay Hayes spoke earlier in the meeting asking the panel to reject the building to protect the historic value of the area.

“If the CBC development is approved it will be the start of the destruction of our heritage and the precinct as a whole,” she said.

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