Fears over units plan for Bellevue Hill

Plans have been released to demolish three buildings in Victoria Rd, Bellevue Hill and replace them with unit blocks housing at least 78 people. When do we stop densifying our suburbs?

The proposed three blocks will have 25 units with 78 bedrooms

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Plans have been released to demolish three buildings in Bellevue Hill and replace them with unit blocks housing at least 78 people.

The development application for Victoria Road proposes knocking down 206D, 208, 210 and 210A.

The existing 13 units across the three buildings will be almost doubled to make way for 25.

The new proposal will tower up to five-storeys with a three level car park for 54 vehicles.

It is the latest development application for blocks of units in the much sought-after suburb.

Earlier this year plans for a four-storey block with 11 units and 18 parking spaces were approved just across the road at 181 Victoria Rd.

The current view from Cooper Park …

And how it will look once the flats are built

And last week we reported on plans to knock down two homes in nearby Riddell St to be replaced with a three-storey block of six flats.

“You can’t just keep densifying suburbs without putting the required infrastructure in,” Bellevue Hill councillor Lucinda Regan said.

“We haven’t got a second public high school, public transport is an issue and people are getting more and more frustrated by the traffic.

“We are a unique area. We are on a peninsula, with two main roads in and two out and we have a lot of heritage to protect.”

The Victoria Rd proposal is to knock down the existing buildings (a townhouse, a pair of semi-detached homes and an interwar unit block) which are on an l-shaped plot.

Three buildings will be constructed in their place.

The current view from the road …

And with the flats in place

The first (building A), which is closest to the road, will have three levels of parking with space for 54 cars, six motorbikes and room for 29 bicycles.

Above the parking will be 13 units ranging from two-bed flats to four-bed flats.

The other two buildings (buildings B and C) will be to the north, overlooking Cooper Park.

Building B will have eight two-bed flats over four floors while building C will have four four-bed units over four floors.

Cr Isabelle Shapiro said there was no surprise Bellevue Hill was so attractive to developers given its location and character.

An artist’s impression of the approved proposal across the road

“I got involved in the Bellevue Hill Residents Action Group in the late 1990s when there was a similar explosion in medium density housing in Bellevue Hill,” the Liberal councillor said.

“Things have changed since then and council no longer decides on applications. But the most important thing is residents continue to be consulted and are able to have their say.”

Commenting on the Victoria Rd proposal she said it appeared to be “broadly consistent” with what is allowed to be built in the area. She said the main concern for neighbours would be the loss of views and excavation issues.

Asked if she thought the character of Bellevue Hill was at risk, she said: “I think it has already changed to a certain extent. I look out my window now and there is a block of units on either side of me and across the road.

“There is a way of doing it, by building developments that are sympathetic to the area.”

Plans for Riddell Street as reporter in the Wentworth Courier last week

Residents First Woollahra Cr Regan said overdevelopment was one of the main issues for the people she represents.

“It is one of the reasons I got onto council. But it is difficult because we have had our powers taken away from us,” she said. “People want to protect the single dwellings in Bellevue Hill and the character of the area, that’s important.”

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