Bilgola Plateau: Shop top apartment block too big and too high
Planning authorities have determined the fate of a proposed $6.8m apartment block on the site of an old northern beaches service station in Bilgola Plateau.
Manly
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Community push back has led to a $6.8 million plan being knocked back for a shop-top block of flats on the northern beaches that was too high and too big.
Developers wanted to bulldoze a historic petrol station at Bilgola Plateau and replace it with a three-storey building with eight apartments and two ground floor shop.
But locals fired off more than 50 submissions to Northern Beaches Council opposed to the development application (DA) for the site — now a disused vehicle service centre — on the edge of the Bilgola Plateau shopping centre in Bilambee Ave.
As well as complaining about the creation of too much traffic and noise and views being blocked, neighbours pointed out that the proposed apartments also breached local height and density planning rules.
Because the council received more than 10 negative public submissions, the proposal was passed to the independent Northern Beaches Planning Panel for adjudication. The panel is made up of two town planners, a community representative and a person with a law background.
In her submission Maria Kanthak wrote that location of the unit block was “already a busy and chaotic spot for all our children on their way to school”.
“With the planned development and the additional traffic, it increases the danger of car accidents.
“Our community is small and not equipped to handle the development of apartment buildings like the proposed one. It does not fit into the neighbourhood and definitely not at the scale of the proposed development.”
Another resident, Claire Cardon wrote that Bilgola Plateau did not need any more shops and the apartments were too big.
“This is a leafy suburb where the community values nature.
“Housing blocks are large and full of native trees but kept at a relatively low level so as not to detract from the natural environment.”
Ros Mulcahy said the block would “completely close off all air, light, view, and solar access” to her private outdoor area.
The planning panel unanimously to reject the DA on several grounds, based on an Assessment Report by council officers recommending it be refused.
Council officers said the DA did not comply with the local 8.5m height limit, with the developer, Dream Build, lodging plans for building with a height of 11.2m.
The Pittwater Local Environmental Plan allows for a maximum of one dwelling per 150 sqm of the site area, equating to a maximum of six apartments for this DA.
“While the redevelopment of the subject site would be a significant improvement … and the proposal incorporates many features of good design … the overall building bulk is inappropriate for the site’s low-density context,” the report said.
“The noncomplying building height, density, building envelope and building setbacks are not supported. In addition, the relationship of the proposed development with its surrounding residential neighbours has not been successfully resolved.
“The proposal is inconsistent with the character and context of the locality.”
The Manly Daily has left messages with Dream Build.
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