Sydney YIMBY backs plans for Neutral Bay Woolworths development
Battle lines have been drawn in the debate for more high-rise Sydney housing as a newly formed YIMBY advocacy group publicly backs a contentious redevelopment of a Woolworths outlet.
North Shore
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A newly-formed grassroots advocacy group that campaigns for more housing in Sydney has thrown its support behind a contentious plan to redevelop a north shore supermarket into a high-rise retail and apartment hub.
Campaigners from Sydney YIMBY have publicly backed a $169.4m proposal to rebuild the Neutral Bay Woolworths outlet on Grosvenor St into a seven storey development incorporating a new supermarket and 72 apartments.
Sydney YIMBY’s support for the project comes as the plans have generated opposition from some residents and business owners due to impacts including traffic congestion and overshadowing.
In the one-month period since the plans for the redevelopment were lodged, there have been a staggering 417 submissions submitted to North Sydney Council with one objector labelling the proposal an “absolute blight on the area”.
Another submission warns the project could “decimate the village atmosphere” of Neutral Bay.
Melissa Neighbour, co-founder of Sydney YIMBY, said she was “stunned” by the negative feedback from some members of the community.
“The current site is dirty, crowded and what’s proposed is a major improvement,” she said.
“Some of the comments by opponents have included people saying they want to preserve the village atmosphere of Neutral Bay – if that’s the case they should move to the country.
“In a housing crisis, I scratch my head to people who say no to more housing. The only way I can interpret the negative comments is that people are afraid of change.”
Meredith Trevallyn-Jones, a convener of a local Neutral Bay community group, said the proposal had become a major talking point among residents and generated mixed opinions within the community.
“I think people would generally like to see something happen to the current site but there’s also a strong feeling that the community wants to retain the village atmosphere,” she said.
“A lot of the opposition is from retailers who are concerned about the impacts during construction.
“There is a recognition that we’re in a housing crisis but that doesn’t mean we should give developers everything they want.”
The plans for Neutral Bay development have been lodged by Woolworths’s rival retailer Coles, which has owned the supermarket since 2013 and leases the site to Woolworths.
If the development is approved, Woolworths would vacate the site and the supermarket would operate as a Coles supermarket.
Sydney YIMBY’s support for the Coles project comes just weeks after the group held the first of zones of new “training sessions” across Sydney suburbs with the goal of showing residents how to lobby local councils for more developments in their neighbourhoods.
Ms Neighbour said the training sessions were also aimed at countering the voices of NIMBYs – or those who say ‘no in my backyard’.
The proposed Coles development is the latest Sydney supermarket redevelopment to include housing – following similar projects such as Coles Lindfield and Woolworths Rose Bay.
Woolworths is also proposing to incorporate units in current redevelopment plans for its other Neutral Bay supermarket, located on the southern side of Military Rd.
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