St Joseph’s College, Hunters Hill plans removal of historic trees in $38m stadium redevelopment

An elite private Catholic school in Hunters Hill will remove historic trees in plans for a new $38 million basketball stadium.

Elite private school Joeys is planning to remove a high number of mature trees, a key feature of Hunters Hill, as part of a stadium redevelopment at the corner of Luke St and Gladesville Rd.

• Rampant tree removal leading to 'ecological disaster'
• 'It's a full house in Hunters Hill'

The “mutilation” of thousands of mature trees in Sydney’s northwest is set to extend to the leafy historic site of St Joseph’s College in Hunters Hill under plans for a new $38 million basketball stadium.

The 138-year-old private Catholic school’s development application reveals the loss of 31 trees — including a decades-old Chinese elm, Norfolk Island pine, Broad-leafed Paperbark, Canary Island date palm and Brushboxes — as part of the sports precinct overhaul.

Hunters Hill Council has already strongly opposed the plan, which is classed as a State Significant Development. However, residents fear the “environmental destruction” will be approved when it goes before the Independent Planning Commission for determination.

A mature Chinese elm slated for removal at Joeys’ grounds. An arboricultural report says “major root loss is expected” at this site.

“The big Brushboxes are not a local tree but they are a native tree and very good habitat tree. They’re going to be mutilated and pulled out of the ground,” Brigid Dowsett, secretary of Hunters Hill Trust, said.

“I think it is poor manners on the school’s behalf to impose this type of development. The environmental destruction is disrespectful of the heritage in a conservation area.”

Joeys’ plan for an indoor sports centre, which would stand 14m and include three basketball courts at the corner of Luke St and Gladesville Rd, comes on the heels of other large-scale developments where mature trees are being levelled by the dozen.

Weeping Bottlebrushes, jacarandas and camellias along the Luke Street frontage of Joeys.

Preliminary works on major developments in Macquarie Park and Epping are cutting down hundreds of trees as suburbs are being turned into concrete jungles.

Photos show how mature trees were being carted off in trucks last month at Epping, leaving barren landscapes in preparation for developments such as the $500 million Cbus three-towers project on Langston Place.

A truck takes away a massive tree trunk in Epping last month.

At Macquarie Park, 858 trees will be removed as part of the Ivanhoe Estate development, where 3500 new dwellings are being built on the corner of Herring and Epping roads.

Hunters Hill independent councillor Ross Williams said the massive loss of mature trees had “become the norm, rather than the exception”.

Hundreds of trees are being removed to make way for the Ivanhoe Estate at Macquarie Park.

“Trees are about the most important things in residents’ minds,” Cr Williams said.

“There has been an erosion of our tree canopy through what I class as inappropriate development. And this has been through the government’s complying development legislation where it allows all on-site vegetation to be removed.

An aerial view of St Joseph’s College, Hunters Hill.

“As a result, we’ve had an enormous loss of tree canopy under this government.”

The government has set a target of planting five million trees across Greater Sydney by 2030, but opponents say it takes generations to replace mature trees.

“Mature trees are very hard to replace,” Ms Dowsett said. “The loss of trees impacts the wildlife, too. In the meantime, they have to find somewhere else to go.”

She also said that under the college’s plans, the heritage-listed stonewalls to Gladesville Road and Luke Street would be “overwhelmed by the scale of the new structure’s walls”.

The new complex will include 85 additional carpark spaces. This is a net increase of 55 parking spaces on the school’s campus.

The entrance to the proposed basketball stadium.

Joeys headmaster Chris Hayes said the design for the sports precinct project was “currently being reviewed” following the consultation period in late 2018.

He said the plan would be “amended to address issues raised by the community” including an increase in the side setbacks to provide much greater capacity for deep soil planting and larger trees.

“St Joseph’s College will continue to work towards a final design that achieves the best possible outcome for the local community and the needs of the college,” Mr Hayes said.

An artist’s impression of proposed St Joseph’s College sports stadium at Hunters Hill.

A Planning Department spokeswoman said it was waiting for the applicant’s revised proposal.

“Once this is received, the department will assess the project before finalising its Assessment Report and referring the matter to the Independent Planning Commission for a final decision,” the spokeswoman said.