Bayswater to soar with plans for a seven-storey apartment tower
A SEVEN-STOREY apartment tower planned for Bayswater would be the suburb’s tallest building.
Outer East
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A SEVEN-STOREY apartment tower planned for Bayswater would be the suburb’s tallest building.
The contentious development at 711-717 Mountain Highway would be two storeys higher than Knox Council’s preferred height limit for the area.
RELATED: Nine-storey apartment block proposed for Mountain Highway, Bayswater
The application to build 55 one, two and three-bedroom apartments has so far attracted 12 objections.
People have until Thursday, May 10 to object.
The initial application, lodged in December 2016 was for a nine-storey apartment tower, however that was later revised after concerns raised by the council.
When the Knox Leader reported on the nine-storey plans in July last year there was mixed feedback with an online poll of 700 readers showing 57 per cent of people were against it and 43 per cent in support.
The site, on the corner of Valentine St, has a real estate agency, massage parlour, computer business and bottle shop. The 1250sq m block sold for $2.7 million in May 2016.
Traders in the shops are on a temporary leasing arrangement and have been told they will be forced out once the development starts.
Jan Wellings, who has lived in Bayswater for 35 years, said she was concerned the seven-storey building would be out of character with the Mountain Highway streetscape.
Mrs Wellings said even though it had been reduced from nine storeys to seven, it would still have a major impact on the skyline because the site was on top of a hill.
“It’s not appropriate,” she said.
“And the poor old traders who’ve had the level crossing works and footpaths dug up are going to have to put up with more construction.”
Knox Council said the preferred height limit for the Bayswater Activity Centre was five storeys but an exception could be made if the plans demonstrated “exceptional design quality”.
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