Ultra discount petrol, Manly: Bid to create all-in-one Sydney servo with its own laundromat, rejected
A plan for a Sydney all-in-one servo that allows motorists to clean their clothes while the car is being automatically washed has gone before planning authorities. See what they decided.
Manly
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A bid to transform a popular northern beaches discount petrol station into an all-in-one servo, complete with its own laundromat, has hit a roadblock.
Owners of the independent Ultra outlet in Manly were pushing a $656,000 development application to install washing machines and dryers as well as an automatic drive-through car wash.
The premises on Pittwater Rd, near the Harris Farm greengrocers, already has a do-it-yourself car wash and vacuum facility as well as a “Fast & Ezy” convenience store, hot food, barista coffee, firewood, fishing tackle and bait.
But the Northern Beaches Local Planning Panel this week rejected the DA for laundromat and auto car wash that was originally lodged with the Northern Beaches Council.
It was referred to the independent panel because of the number of people objecting to the plans.
Locals told the council that the noise of the automatic car washing machine would be too loud and the faculty would be opened for too long.
There were also concerns the new machine would overshadow neighbouring houses and gardens. worries were expressed about increase traffic leaving the site having an impact on pedestrian safety along Pittwater Rd.
The owners wanted to operate the auto car wash from 7am to 8pm Monday to Friday and start at 8am on Saturdays and from 8.30am on Sundays and publuc holiday.
Neighbour Kirsty Drummond, who lives next to the service station, told the panel, in a written submission, that the car wash hours of operation and the “likelihood of increased noise is a huge concern”.
“There clearly is a motivation to attract increased traffic and patronage to the site and this can only result in greater disruption, disturbance and noise,” Ms Drummond wrote.
In her address to the panel meeting this week, Ms Drummond also highlighted safety fears, due to increased patronage, for pedestrians using the footpath outside the service station.
She pointed out that the station was close to a children’s day care centre, Stella Maris College and the Harris Farm outlet.
“It is simply enabling an accident to happen and burdens the area with further traffic chaos” she told the panel.
Ms Drummond also said a proposed 3-metre high brick wall between her property and the service station, as well as the close proximity of the car wash to the boundary, was an “overstep in design” that would massively reduce sunlight onto her property.
In its written DA determination, the panel stated that panel agreed generally with the council’s recommendation that the DA be refused.
However, it stated that the reasons for the refusal in the Council assessment report were only relevant to the proposed automatic car wash and associated boundary walls.
The panel stated that it “would have been minded to approve” the laundromat, a new boundary wall and an extension to the sales area had the panel been provided with additional plans about those three parts of the DA.
Ultra has been contacted for comment.
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