White City Paddington: Hakoah Club allay community fears
Developers of the White City tennis centre in Paddington say they’re back on track after COVID-19 and have a plan to allay the mounting worries of local residents and schools regarding construction of the $47 million project.
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Developers of the White City tennis centre in Paddington say they’re back on track after COVID-19 and have a plan to allay the mounting worries of local residents and schools regarding construction of the $47 million project.
Some are excited by the glamorous Hakoah Club plans to return the one-time home of Australian tennis to its former glory.
However, the two primary concerns relate to the traffic management plan for 80 heavy vehicles to rat run through the backstreets of Paddington and Woollahra every day during construction and whether the private Jewish consortium will make good on its promise to open the facility to the public.
The P & Cs of both Glenmore Road Public School and Sydney Grammar School’s Edgecliff Preparatory campus have voiced their concerns regarding the traffic situation with the latter mounting a petition which so far has 620 signatures.
Meanwhile Sydney Grammar has begun the process of gaining approval for a four storey $47.8 million sports complex right next door meaning the area could face years of back to back construction.
Hakoah Club spokesman Robert Woolf said the consortium was working closely with stakeholders to address the concerns while still meeting council planning requirements.
Stage One of the redevelopment has already been given the green light and Stage Two will go before the Sydney Eastern City Planning Panel for determination.
Construction was originally slated to begin in the latter half of this year.
“COVID-19 did have some initial impact on the assessment and response process, but this has now passed,” Mr Woolf said.
“Construction can start once development and other approvals are obtained, and the club has completed its internal due diligence.
“We are sensitive to the large number of submissions made to council in relation to construction traffic. Construction Traffic Management plans are under review internally and with council, to identify alternate construction traffic routes which might alleviate concerns.”
Mr Woolf said membership of the club would be “open to all” and he expected it would be well patronised by the local community.
“The new sports and community facilities reflect community needs and attitudes. Facilities include a new club, cafe and restaurant, nine tennis courts, synthetic football field, learn-to-swim and outdoor 25m pools, multi-use courts suitable for basketball, netball and futsal, gym and health studios, and parking for cars, motorcycles, and bicycles,” he said.
“ The idea is to promote a healthy lifestyle, and participation in sports, social and cultural activities by the community as a whole.”
James Dolton and his wife Victoria have children at each of the nearby schools and live opposite White City on Cambridge St.
He said his concerns related to both the traffic during construction and the scale of the project.
“Residents are concerned about the over development of the site and the impact that will have on the local amenity,” Mr Dolton said.
“And there are particular concerns about the impact of traffic on small locals with the truck movements.”
Woollahra councillor Harriet Price called on Hakoah Club to both rethink the traffic management plan and reveal detail about exactly how much memberships will cost.
“Look there are a lot of people in the community saying it’s a derelict site and we could put up with the impacts of construction if we knew at the end of it all we could pay a reasonable price to go and use the pool,” Cr Price said.