NIDA, Randwick Council call in lawyers after student housing towers approved

Randwick City Council and the National Institute of Dramatic Art are seeking legal advice about a potential court challenge to a controversial 850-bed student housing development at UNSW after it was approved this week.

A planning panel chaired by former Labor minister Carl Scully found the project, which will be 16 storeys at its tallest, should proceed as it was well-designed, well-located on an Anzac Parade light rail stop and would provide much-needed homes for students.

Actor and NIDA board member Sigrid Thornton addressed the planning panel to say the housing development would destroy NIDA.

Next-door neighbour NIDA fiercely opposed the development on the grounds it was too tall and too close, would dwarf the renowned drama school, and would cause disruption during construction. The council also opposed the plan and was preparing a counter-proposal that would have limited the development of the UNSW-owned site to seven storeys.

Randwick Greens Mayor Philipa Veitch, who was re-elected to her ward at last weekend’s poll, said she was “very disappointed” with the panel’s decision and the council was considering all options for a potential challenge.

“Anzac Parade already has well over 3000 commercial student accommodation rooms approved and under construction,” she said. “This is a Crown land site located at a major public transport hub; the state government should have reserved this for public and affordable residential housing with a development that aligns with our council-approved planning controls.”

Veitch also took issue with two Randwick councillors being excluded from the panel because the determination was finalised after Saturday’s election and said it should have been deferred. The panel’s report noted that Liberal councillor Joanne McCafferty supported the approval while Labor’s Marea Wilson did not.

UNSW was accused of being a bad corporate citizen by continuing with the student housing proposal.Credit: Edwina Pickles

The panel recorded that the development had been significantly reduced from the original plan of 20 to 23 storeys, and concessions were made to NIDA, including increased setbacks, a wider access road and a turning circle for cars and buses.

NIDA said those adjustments showed the panel had some appreciation of “the immediate and long-term impact the development will have on Australia’s premier arts institution”.

But it was still disappointed by the approval and said it was taking expert and legal advice as the project would disrupt the school’s activities and “cripple” its future.

“We strongly believe it is an inappropriate overdevelopment that will deliver poor outcomes for NIDA, our students, the community and the social fabric of Kensington,” NIDA said.

A map of the controversial proposal, which sits at the end of University Mall.

“UNSW/Iglu are making commercial profits from expensive student accommodation, and NIDA’s ability to operate should not be compromised due to the development.”

The Department of Planning advised that the only recourse for third-party appeals against a planning decision was a judicial review of the administration of the decision. There are no merit appeals.

UNSW chief property officer Tim Beattie said the university did not believe NIDA would be affected to the degree it claimed. He acknowledged construction was always disruptive but said there was no cause for NIDA to relocate its activities, nor a case for financial compensation, as the drama school had previously demanded.

‘Look at the bigger picture’

“Whenever you’re making changes, particularly in established areas, people are always very resistant to change. I think that’s just a natural response to something like this,” Beattie said.

“At the same time, you need to look at the bigger picture. This is a key site that is opposite a tram stop and centred in a global university. We also recognise the pressure that’s on students for housing and the cost of housing.”

Beattie said some critics’ argument that Iglu’s student rooms were too expensive and, therefore, should not proceed did not make sense because supplying more housing would put downward pressure on prices.

He said UNSW respected NIDA’s work, and he believed the fractured relationship between the two would be repaired over time and “everyone will move on”.

NIDA’s failed attempt to convince the panel to refuse the proposal involved a letter signed by 12 alumni, including Mel Gibson, Richard Roxburgh and Heather Mitchell, and testimony from actor and NIDA board member Sigrid Thornton.

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