Chatswood: Developer Polytech granted court approval to redevelop Pacific Hwy site

A developer has been given the green light to bulldoze a run-down, graffiti sprawled building dubbed by locals as the ‘eyesore of Chatswood’ after a planning battle with Willoughby Council.

A developer has been given the green light to knock down a dilapidated graffiti sprawled building dubbed by locals as the ‘eyesore of Chatswood’ after a planning battle with Willoughby Council.

A vacant commercial building at 688-692 Pacific Hwy is one step closer to being turned into a multistorey shop-top housing complex as part of a $20.7m development approved in the Land and Environment Court last week.

The approval wraps up a long-running saga over the site after the plans by developer Polytech Australia were refused by Willoughby Council.

The development has also been at the centre of a community campaign with locals lobbying for the site to be used for a primary school.

The campaign has been spurred on by soaring school enrolment growth in Chatswood which has left local schools – including Chatswood Primary School located directly next to the development site – at bursting point.

A photo of the Pacific Hwy site.

Some residents have been petitioning for the NSW Government to rundown the site as a means of expanding the campus for students.

Resident David Grover, in a submission to the plans, said the community had “fought hard and long for the Department of Education to acquire the property.

“This opportunity does not come up often so it should be made the most of,” a submission to the council stated.

A concept photo of the development.

In The Land and Environment Court, court commissioner Louise Byrne found the development was permissible under the zoning of the site and approved the development on 114 conditions Polytech Australia must comply with during the construction process.

“The land is suitable for the development (and) has been designed to respond to the site opportunities and constraints,” she said.

“The development replaces an existing under-utilised and underperforming building on the site and provides a high performing mixed use development that provides residential as well as commercial land uses that are appropriate for the location”.

Residents had campaigned for the site to be acquired by the NSW Government.

The approval came after Polytech Australia agreed to scale down the height of the building from seven storeys to six, resulting in the number of apartments in the development reducing from 30 to 26.

The development will still stand 10m taller than the 18m height limit for the site.

Plans stated the development would help address housing demand in the local area, partly fuelled by population growth.

“The proposal will contribute toward much needed residential dwellings – including affordable housing – in Willoughby (and) will generate both direct and indirect employment in the retail and commercial premises on the site,” the plans stated.

The NSW Government is currently in the process of redeveloping the Chatswood Primary and High School with expanded student and teaching capacities.