Randwick City Council under fire from residents over eight-storey residential flat proposal

A grandmother fears she will lose “access to the sun and sky” after a council issued a development application proposing an eight-storey apartment building.

A Sydney grandmother is fuming over an eastern suburb council’s development application proposing an eight-storey residential apartment, fearing her “quality of life” and “access to sun and sky” will be disturbed by the multi-level building.

Randwick City Council sent out letters in early November notifying residents of plans to knock down two deceased estates and to remove trees along Church St in Randwick.

The block of land would see a 27-unit residential flat complex with a two-level basement car park built by developers, if given the green light.

It would comprise of a mix of two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments.

Two deceased estates on Church St in Randwick could make way for an eight-storey apartment building. Picture: Supplied

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But a Randwick local, who only wanted to be known as Jacquie, was not happy, and said approval of the project “sets a dangerous precedent for all of our suburban living”.

The retiree told news.com.au that her main concern is the height of the residential apartment that she believes would impact her and the lives of neighbours on the street.

“I am deeply concerned about the profound and irreversible impact an eight-storey, 27-unit building will have on my quality of life, my access to sun and sky, and the character of our long-established Randwick neighbourhood,” she said.

“The monolithic scale and bulk of the proposal seems preposterous and will create significant overshadowing, reduce natural light, obstruct sky views, and materially diminish residential amenity for surrounding homes. Once lost, these qualities cannot be restored.

“Replacing two houses with a structure more than double the prevailing height is wholly inconsistent with the established built form and clearly conflicts with the reasonable expectations of local residents.

“Randwick’s charm, character and liveability are what locals such as myself have dependably relied on.”

A current view of the street. Picture: Randwick City Council

A CGI rendered image of what the building would look like. Picture: Randwick City Council

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Jacquie said “many” locals along Church St are against the proposal.

In a social media post about the development application, residents expressed similar concerns to the grandmother and called on the council to properly consider the project.

One woman labelled the proposed eight-storey complex “ridiculous”.

Another resident argued the Randwick Racecourse, only a couple of kilometres away, should have been bulldozed and turned into residential complexes.

One local simply said the council must review the development application.

But others, who Jacquie pointed out were not locals of the area, were in support, saying it would help with affordable housing amid a shortage of homes.

One Western Sydney man said he was “sick” of seeing his region being “overdeveloped” and argued Randwick had public transport nearby to support growth in the area.

Another commenter said sacrifices had to be made due to a lack of housing.

“This is what it has come to but remember we are in a housing crisis, sacrifices have to be made. Personally I feel housing people is worth that,” they wrote.

“Sorry about your view being taken away.”

The proposed site is close to Randwick Racecourse. Picture: Randwick City Council

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The height of the apartment building exceeds the six-storey limit set out in Section 175(2) of the SEPP (Housing) 2021 policy.

However, ABC Planning Pty Ltd, the town planning consultancy in charge, requested a variation to the height as the proposed site offered “affordable housing” near “services and facilities within a medium density environment where housing is in demand”.

The government has said developers would be awarded a 30 per cent increase in building height if 10 to 15 per cent of its gross floor was reserved for affordable housing.

According to the plans, it would include five “affordable” units, meaning an extra two storeys, as well as additional floor space ratio, is permitted under the policy.

“Despite the storey height variation, the proposal will provide improved housing choice and affordability in proximity to nearby services and facilities within a medium-density residential environment where housing is in demand,” documents submitted to council stated.

“The non-compliant storey height facilitates the provision of additional affordable housing on the site in a well-serviced location.

“The non-compliant storey height will not unreasonably impact the amenity of neighbouring properties and the streetscape in terms of overshadowing, privacy and view loss, noting that the proposal complies with the building height and FSR development standards.

“Therefore, it is considered that the proposed development satisfies the zone objectives, notwithstanding the storey height variation.”

It sits below the 28.6 metre maximum height, the plan noted.

An architectural design report also looked into overshadowing, saying an adjoining property did experience “some degree of overshadowing” from the proposed eight-storey building.

But the analysis found “a similar extent of overshadowing would occur under a development” that complied with development control plans.

The apartment building will be 8 storeys high and includes two levels of basement car park. Picture: Randwick City Council

Jacquie insisted she would not oppose the apartment complex if it was three to four levels, and dismissed ABC Planning’s reasoning.

“Presenting an oversized, eight-storey building with ‘affordable housing’ is misleading when the apartments will inevitably be priced well beyond the reach of the average family,” she told news.com.au.

“This project does not meaningfully contribute to housing affordability; it simply delivers financial benefit to the developer while placing the long-term burden on the surrounding community. This development is excessive and out of scale.

“It will not enhance the street and it will be an out of place beacon with zero respect for established neighbourhood character. And if these buildings are allowed we will all long term be the poorer for it.”

In a statement to news.com.au, Randwick City Council said no decision had been made.

“The application relies on the State Government’s new Low and Mid Rise Housing provisions and seeks a 30 per cent increase in height and floor-space ratio for in-fill affordable housing under the Housing SEPP,” a council spokesman said.

“The Randwick Local Planning Panel is the consent authority for this DA. Council will review all submissions received during the exhibition period and address them in the assessment report.”

Residents had until December 5 to submit objections.

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