Manly Vale: Condamine St boarding house plan rejected by council officers

The fate of plans for a northern beaches’ boarding house, squeezed between a furniture shop and a block of flats, will be decided by a local planning panel.

Northern Beaches Council is pushing for a 39-room boarding house to be knocked back by planning authorities.

A developer wants to build the $5m, four-storey block on a site, which used to accommodate a two-bedroom house, on Condamine St, Manly Vale.

But in an assessment report handed to the Northern Beaches Local Planning Panel, council officers recommended the $5m development be refused for a string of reasons including height, traffic, parking and flooding — Burnt Bridge Creek cuts through the site.

The council received 21 submissions from locals calling for the DA to be rejected. If a development application receives 10 or more public objections, the independent planning panel makes a decision on the DA.

A site of a proposed 39-room boarding house at Manly Vale is between Freedom Furniture and a block of apartments. Picture: Google Maps

The developer, named on council documents as My Manly Vale Pty Ltd, has already lodged an appeal with the NSW Land and Environment Court “with respect to the deemed refusal of the application”.

In his submission John Koorey, said the development, next to Freedom Furniture, gave “new meaning to overcrowding”.

Mr Koorey, who owns nearby properties, said the lack of parking – seven car spaces for the development which has 39 double-rooms – was also a concern.

Council officers said the four-storey building was too high. Picture: Gartner Trovato Architects

The proposal is for the accommodation to be split into two pavilions with an internal central courtyard in between.

They all have their own kitchen and bathroom. Some have balconies.

The DA proposed to build the partially within and over the creekline.

Council officers found that the building was more than 8m higher than what the zoning allowed and the council’s Design and Sustainability Panel said the site was not suitable for a residential and should be used for commercial purposes.

An artist's impression of a proposed 39-room boarding house at 255 Condamine St, Manly Vale, showing the creek cutting through the site. Picture: Gartner Trovato Architects

“The application has not demonstrated that the proposed residential development is appropriate on such a constrained and hostile site,” the assessment report stated.

“(There are) a plethora of issues related to areas of noncompliance that warrant the refusal of the subject application,” the council report said.

The Manly Daily has attempted to contact the property owner.

A decision by the panel is expected this week.