Hundreds attend public rally to fight new boarding house
ALMOST 300 people attended a public meeting at Allambie Heights at the weekend to protest a planned $1.14 million boarding house development.
Manly
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ALMOST 300 people attended a public meeting at Allambie Heights at the weekend to protest a planned $1.14 million boarding house development.
Hundreds of submissions raising concerns about the plan to demolish a single-level brick house and build a two-storey, 14-bed establishment have been lodged with Northern Beaches Council.
The Allambie Heights Action Committee, which hosted the meeting, is also raising funds to engage town planners to assess the proposal — getting more than $1000 on Saturday.
Among the major concerns are increased traffic and parking congestion, with three parking spaces planned for up to 28 new residents who could live at the site, at the corner of Allambie Rd and Grigor Pl.
Committee member Peter Polgar told the Manly Daily attendees felt the plan was adding excessive bulk.
He said the committee was “not against developments per se but was definitely against this type of overdevelopment”.
He said residents were concerned about the size and bulk of the development.
There have also been concerns that anti-social behaviour could result from the boarding house.
“If they allow this development to go through, you can bet your bottom dollar it will open a can of worms all along Allambie Rd,” Mr Polgar said.
“There will be no reason why that won’t just keep going.
“You can forget the ambience and young family oriented precinct we have got here, it will all be gone.”
Developer Harcorp Enterprises could not be contacted but a statement of environmental effects prepared for the council said: “The proposal retains the residential character of the locality and should not have any significant impact on the amenity of adjoining properties.”
It said the boarding house would be of benefit to the community due to the imminent opening of the Northern Beaches Hospital.
Meanwhile, Warringah MP Tony Abbott voiced his ongoing concerns about overdevelopment, highlighting this proposal as a prime example of his criticism.
“This is typical of what is happening all over our peninsula and it is exactly what needs to stop,” he said.
“It will mean tripling of the number of vehicles on the road from that building.
“We are a peninsula with clogged arteries and we shouldn’t put more stress on them.”
Mr Abbott said he had conducted his own Facebook survey and the majority of respondents agreed with his calls to halt major developments until better transport infrastructure was available.
The Allambie Heights Action Group Facebook page has been formed to increase the fighting fund against the development.
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