Ramsgate Village: Capital Hill Group bypasses council over homes plan

An ambitious property developer has side stepped a Sydney council over plans for close to 200 homes to be built in a high-rise village after it was rejected over a “lack of strategic merit”.

Artist impressions of the Ramsgate Village Proposal, which has gone to a rezoning review at NSW Planning.

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Developers behind an ambitious vision to build a high-rise village in the city’s south have bypassed a Sydney council, calling for NSW Planning to support the proposal instead.

Capital Hill Group submitted a rezoning review to transform the Ramsgate CBD – with plans to send buildings up to 10-storeys into the sky – to NSW Planning this month after Georges River Council failed to act on determining the proposal.

The planning proposal was submitted to council on September 3 last year and rejected by the local planning panel on December 17.

A massive new Coles supermarket and hundreds of homes are included in the plans.

The development, which would stretch more than 7000sq m from 193-201 Rocky Point Road, 66-68 Ramsgate Road and 2-6 Targo Road, Ramsgate, would include a village square, 5000sq m of retail and commercial space and residential buildings housing 197 apartments ranging from six storeys to 10 storeys in height.

A Capital Hill Group planner said the planning proposal included “significant public benefits and infrastructure to meet the changing needs of the community, including a large new public space or plaza, community facilities and the provision of other services not yet provided in Ramsgate including a full line supermarket”.

“It also provides for interactive public art, soft landscape, new trees, shade, community events and local markets,” the planner said.

A range of one, two and three bedroom apartments would be included in the proposal alongside a new Coles supermarket.

A previous planning proposal for the site was submitted in July, 2016, however, the proposal was withdrawn.

A Georges River Council spokeswoman said the proposal was assessed by council planners and referred to the Georges River Local Planning Panel.

“The Local Planning Panel recommended that the Planning Proposal be deferred for design amendments and for further analysis to be undertaken to consider a holistic and place-based planning approach for the Ramsgate centre,” the spokeswoman revealed.

The spokeswoman said the proposal was “found to lack strategic merit” and provided a high density development and subsequent increased

population “with no access to adequate public transport infrastructure”.

Ramsgate Village would also include a public plaza at the heart of the site.

“It is inconsistent with the strategic directions and key actions contained within the draft Commercial Centres Strategy, which seeks to retain

existing height and FSR development standards for Ramsgate Centre,” the spokeswoman said.

“The proposed concept development and controls are considered to be excessive and out of context with the surrounding locality, where it seeks to increase the maximum building height from a maximum of 21m to a maximum of 35m (equivalent to ten storeys) and density increases.

“The Planning Proposal provides no adequate justification for this significant height increase compared to the surrounding locality, nor is

there justification for the proposed overall density of development proposed by an adopted Regional, District or Local Strategy.”