Belrose: Bundaleer St boarding house expansion — to 104 lodgers — must be rejected, council says
A push is on to halt a bid to double the number of lodgers — to 104 — at a boarding house compound on the edge of bushland on the northern beaches.
Manly
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Planning authorities have been urged to reject a proposed 31-room boarding house next to bushland because it is a “gross overdevelopment” of the semirural site.
Officers at Northern Beaches Council have also recommended the $5.2 million project at Belrose be knocked back because it has “little architectural merit”.
In its Assessment Report to the independent Northern Beaches Local Planning Panel, the council said the 1.64ha site in Bundaleer St was already developed to maximum capacity because it has an existing 33-room boarding house, which opened in 2017.
The Chatswood-based property development business, Vigor Master, now wants another two-storey building on the same block, which would allow a total of 104 lodgers on the site.
Local residents and community groups, including the Belrose Rural Community Association and Garigal Landcare, agreed with the council’s assessment that the DA should be rejected.
Nearby neighbour Ron Patton told a meeting of the planning panel on Wednesday that a number of locals ”strongly” objected to a second large boarding house on the same site.
“The existing boarding house is a an example of development that is unsuitable for this area,” Mr Patton said. “We do not want a repeat of this type of development … it will exceed the housing density controls.”
Belrose Rural Community Association president, Conny Harris, who also runs the Garigal Landcare group, told the planning panel that bushland on the site is used as a “wildlife corridor” by native animals.
And in a written submission Dr Harris stated that the bulk and scale of the property, opposite the Covenant Christian School, was larger than other residential dwellings in the area as well as being “out of character” with neighbouring properties.
“This proposal is an intense urban development and is inappropriate for this area.”
In its Assessment Report, the council said the proposal was a “gross overdevelopment of the site” and that the impact on bushland was unacceptable.
“The proposal displays little architectural merit, being almost a replica of the existing
building on the site,” the report stated.
The council officers stated that Vigor Master was given a chance to address the council’s concerns.
“(It) instead submitted a revised set of drawings which, in summary, only changed the
internal layout of the building, added balconies to each room and changed the colour of
the building.
“This report considers that the site is already developed to its maximum capacity based
on the planning controls.”
On its website Vigor Master promotes the existing “studio apartments” in Bundaleer St as being “within a lush bushland” setting that “sits upon an expansive 1.64 hectares”.
“Residents enjoy the combination of a natural escape and all the comforts expected of modern homes.”
The planning panel is expected to release its DA decision this week.
Vigor master was contacted for comment. It said it would contact the owner of the property to ask if they wanted to reply.
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