Developers plan apartments, retail space and hotel next to Northern Beaches Hospital
DEVELOPERS hope to rezone business park land in Sydney’s northern beaches to make way for 840 apartments, a 15,000sq m retail space and a large hotel.
Manly
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DEVELOPERS hope to rezone business park land in Frenchs Forest to make way for 840 apartments, a 15,000sq m retail space and a large hotel.
A planning proposal for 1-3 Rodborough Rd would put nine apartment blocks, including two 20-storey towers standing about 30 metres above the Northern Beaches Hospital.
But critics say it is too high with Narrabeen ward councillor Rory Amon saying the plans had already sparked fury.
He said residents were concerned it was trying to turn Frenchs Forest into “overdevelopment city”.
“These are not property developers circling the northern beaches, they’re property overdevelopers,” he said.
“This overdevelopment proposal is on top of the 3000 dwellings (expected) in the Frenchs Forest precinct, and on top of the possible 5,360 if we get the infrastructure we need.
“It departs from years of considered community consultation and planing around the Frenchs Forest hospital site.”
However, the proposal prepared for Capital Investment Group by planners, Mecone, argued it would add to the housing diversity, creating affordable options for hospital workers.
“This planning proposal supports the growth of a “health and education super precinct” as identified in the Greater Sydney Commission’s (GSC) draft North District Plan through the provision of flexible land uses to allow for the clustering of health services ... and ancillary retail and accommodation,” the report said.
It said the proposal would add higher level employment opportunities through the retail space.
The State Government’s targets are for five to 10 per cent of any new floor space to be allocated to affordable housing.
“This proposal alone will guarantee 12.5 per cent for 15 years, directly addressing affordability and assisting with alleviating housing stress at a local level,” the report said.
It will also include an 8 000sq m hotel, less than 1km from the hospital site.
The report said the hotel would cater to “business innovation, family or friends visiting patients in the hospital and outpatients that still have to visit the hospital on a regular basis”.
“We see the site as being transformative, allowing the opportunity to be adaptive to future changes and demands,” the report said.
The plans are open for comment until Sunday.
Cr Amon said residents should send a strong message to the council if this is not the type of development they want.
It follows the council’s refusal of a 380-room unit complex opposite the hospital at the last council meeting. That building was to be entirely filled with accommodation for health workers.
“The people of the northern beaches I speak to are sick and tired of these imperialist property overdevelopers coming in, seeking to plunder the character out of our community for a quick buck before skipping town and, in the process, taking away from our quality of life,” Cr Amon said.
Attempts were made to contact Capital Investments.
