Agenda for April meeting

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The next ARAG meeting will take place this coming Wednesday, the 10th of April, at the usual time and place of 7pm at Alexandria Town Hall.

On the Agenda:
– The latest news from Council on the Ashmore Development
– A report from our meeting with John Mant and Deputy Lord Mayor Robyn Kemmis
– Discussion on Council’s draft parking policy
– an update on the State Government’s development and planning whitepaper
– any other business

Alexandria Parking Trial – Six Month Review

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Those of you living in streets included in the parking trial should have received a letter from Council seeking feedback on the parking trial.

ARAG strongly recommends that you respond, as Council will rely on this feedback when deciding whether to expand the trial in your street or not.

We scored a major victory in having visitors’ parking permits included in the trial. If you are benefiting from the visitors’ parking scheme, please respond to Council and let them know how much you value the permits.

Comments may be emailed to council@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au or posted to Traffic Operations, City of Sydney, GPO Box 1591, Sydney NSW 2001. Please quote reference number 2013/060620.

The deadline for responding is 6pm, Friday 22nd of March.

For more information on the trial, visit http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/vision/on-exhibition/current-exhibitions/details/alexandria-parking-trial.

March ARAG meeting agenda

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The March ARAG meeting will be held at the the usual time and place of 7pm, Wednesday the 13th at Alexandria Town Hall.

The agenda for the meeting is:

1) Council’s 6-month review of the trial parking scheme for Alexandria;
2) 355 Bus Route alteration (per installation of new traffic lights re Bunnings);
3) State Emergency Services Guest Speaker;
4) Lift Redfern campaign update;
5) Village to Village Bus Service
6) other business

Plus, of course, a report on the Summer Fair.

Speaking of which, have you seen: http://www.southsydneyherald.com.au/advance-alexandria-fair/#.UTgebw3zSAY.mailto ?

Alexandria Summer Fair – thank you

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Thank you to all who attended and made the inaugural Alexandria Summer Fair such a success.

Thank you especially to our sponsors and supporters, most especially to the City of Sydney, without your help this would not have happened.

To everyone who asked “Will we do this again next year?”, the answer is that we’re thinking about it. We might.

In the meantime, we’re sorting our photos and we’ll share a few of the best here, or somewhere. You may have spoken to Andrew Collis from the South Sydney Herald, or been photographed by him.  If so, keep an eye out for the next edition of the paper, see if you get a mention.

And we’re in the process of contacting those prize winners who weren’t able to collect their prizes at the show.

And we also have one or two items of lost property. No promises, but if you’ve lost anything, or if you have anything else you want to know or to share with us, please email AlexandriaFair@arag.org.au.

Otherwise, we hope to see you at the next regular ARAG meeting on the 13th of March, at Alexandria Town Hall, at the usual time of 7pm. More details to follow.

Alexandria Summer Fair is going ahead

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The weather bureau having pronounced that the weather for tomorrow will be better than today, Alexandria Summer Fair is going ahead.

We might move a few activities to the school, and we might have to make
some adjustments to the schedule, but we’re going ahead.

The planned schedule is:
11:00 Start
11:30 Official Opening and Welcome to Country
12:30 Doggy Parade and Competition
2:30 Junior Photo Competition Winners Announced
3:00 Close

Blanket sellers and kids photos – registration opens at 10:00
Doggy Parade – registration opens at 11:00

Hope to see you there.

Corner of Buckland and Wyndham Sts.

Alexandria Park – Corner of Buckland and Wyndham Sts.

DA Objection Requests for 5-Storey Apartment Block at 76 Mitchell Road (Auction Centre)

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Note: Last day for objections is Tuesday 11th December.

From David, Damien, David & Tony of Buckland Street (bucklandstreet@hotmail.com)

Urgent Community Objection Needed Against Construction of Large 5 Storey Apartment Block at 76 Mitchell Road (DA D/2012/1627) – Submissions Close Tue 11th December

Dear Fellow Alexandria / Erskinville Residents,

We, residents in Buckland & Fountain Streets and the Alexandria Residents’ Action Group (ARAG) have only just become aware of the DA to demolish the Auction Centre at 76 Mitchell Road, Alexandria and build an extremely large 5 Storey apartment block that is completely out of scale with the area and will dwarf the heritage listed streetscape directly across from and adjacent to it.

Because the City of Sydney Council only notified houses within 75 metres and the fact that the Developer has placed the DA notice inside a window in the building hidden by shutters after opening hours, it is clear that most residents in the area are unaware of the proposed eyesore that will negatively impact our heritage listed low-rise residential area; at present there are only 6 Objections lodged at time of writing – a number that Council itself has indicated is extremely low.

We apologise for the late notice, but please ask that you take 5 minutes to lodge an Objection to DA D/2012/1627 with Council by Tue 11th December* so that we can have this Community-unfriendly design Rejected. Submission Objection points and more details are provided below.

Please lodge your Objections by Email to DASubmissions@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au  & Copy Councillor Linda Scott (who has offered to assist us) LScott@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au and the Alexandria Residents’ Action Group info@arag.org.au.

(*) 2-week extension from 28/11 granted.

76 Mitchell St, artists impression

76 Mitchell St, artists impression

When lodging, it is important to reference DA D/2012/1627, include your Email address or phone number for Council to contact you and to CC Councilor Linda Scott and ARAG to track Objections and have the matter heard before Council. It is worth noting that Council does listen to residents; when 70 residents objected to the Buckland Hotel opening a late-night venue on its top floor, it rejected the DA.

76 Mitchell St, artists impression

3 Residents’ Groups met over the weekend and the following subset of objection points were immediately identified (there are too many to list here, but we are happy to share others by Email):

  1. The bulk & height are totally out of scale with existing streetscape. The proposed height of 14.7 metres is non-compliant with the current 12m allowable (DA attempts to quote draft 2011 LEP)
  2. The Floor to Space Ratio (FSR) is above the 1:1 allowable, in fact the DA seeks to have a 50% ‘bonus’ applied to 1.5:1 by paying Council a monetary sum under a ‘Voluntary Planning Agreement’. Details in the DA show that they are further non-compliant as the real FSR is 1.6:1.
  3. The building of a bulky 5-storey apartment block directly opposite and adjacent to 1 to 2-storey heritage listed areas is completely non-compliant with the current Green Square Development Control Plan (DCP) in particular with the objective to “Encourage design that reinforces unique attributes of Green Square (heritage, contributory buildings, landscape etc.)”
  4. The large increase in height and bulk will cause very large loss-of-privacy and overshadowing (the ‘shadow diagrams’ show massive impact to the South – particularly in mid-Winter).
  5. The height of the proposed design and high-density unit layout is non-compliant with NSW’s 2002 ‘SEPP 65’planning policy (introduced to improve design quality of units); inside the block less than the minimum of 70% of units will receive 3 hours sunlight between 9.00-15.00 in mid-Winter.
  6. The mixture of dwellings is also non-compliant under the current South Sydney Development Control Plan (DCP) –there are nine (9) tiny 50sqm studios which is 41% of total (far higher than the maximum of 30% allowed) and only five (5) 80sqm 2-bedroom units which is 23% of total (far lower than the 40% minimum). Single-brick construction means limited acoustic privacy.

Please note that we are in favour of residential developments that are sympathetic to our area and improve amenity – this DA is not, and also states it’s only Stage 1 (Stage 2 being the smash repair shop).

David / Damien / David / Tony – Buckland Street (bucklandstreet@hotmail.com)

A sample objection is attached: Template Letter – Objection to DA D-2012-1627 – 76 Mitchell Road Alexandria. Please use this only as a starting point for your own objection – a short but original objection is worth more than a copy of a longer and more detailed objection.

A  version of this post is also available in MS Word format: DA Objection Letterdrop v1-8b