Nicho TENG after moving from China to study in Adelaide chose to stay and build a business, Haneco Lighting in 2011.
Nicho has since taken on the role of Managing Director for property developer GREATON and is involved in a number of business and networking groups, including the AUSTRALIA CHINA BUSINESS COUNCIL and the Hong Kong Australia Business Association SA.
Among Greaton’s Partners is Builder CEEROSE … a company that has had issues raised concerning complaints of flooding and defective materials and workmanship!
GREATON has acquired 14 homes in St Leonards South …
–Lane Cove Council and the NSW Berejiklian Government have earmarked St Leonards South for major development due it being near St Leonards train station
-developers have bought most of the homes to take advantage of zoning changes
‘Homes are set to be a thing of the past’ … and so too the leafy suburb and its urban bushlands … which is how Australians liked their neighbourhoods, and who is this to benefit … apart from the developer?
St Leonards and Crows Nest have already undergone extensive redevelopment …
View Source Link for Video where a community member of Overdevelopment We Are Over It reveals more changes for Crows Nest: 1 x 8 Storey, 2 x 27 Towers
Greaton’s St Leonards south plans include 232 apartments
Fourteen houses would be razed and 232 units built at St Leonards, in a neighbourhood where houses are set to be a thing of the past.
Developer Greaton has filed $114 million plans for its properties at 24 to 34 Berry Rd, 23 to 31 Holdsworth Ave and 42 to 46 River Rd, part of the area known as St Leonards south.
The red shaded area is the development site within the St Leonards south area. Picture: Greaton
Lane Cove Council and the State Government have earmarked the area for major development due it being near St Leonards train station.
The neighbourhood mainly consists of houses.Developers have bought most of these to take advantage of zoning changes.
The area known as St Leonards south is mostly houses, for now. Picture: Greaton
Greaton would demolish its houses and build two towers, according to plans lodged with the council.
One tower would face Holdsworth Ave and stand up to 10-storeys, while the other would face Berry Rd and stand up to nine-storeys.
Underground parking would be provided for 327 vehicles.
An artist’s impression of the proposal for St Leonards south. Picture: Greaton
A four-storey street wall would face River Rd. This was intended to minimise overshadowing, according to the plans.
The development application does not seek approval for any physical works.
A second application will seek permission for works to begin, according to the plans.
Greaton will offer a voluntary planning agreement (VPA) in this second application. Developers usually propose works in a VPA that will benefit the surrounding community, or offer funds.
Greaton’s offer will be to build an east-west pedestrian crossing from Berry Rd to Holdsworth Ave, the plans said.
A state government-appointed planning panel will decide whether to approve the plans as they are worth more than $30 million.
GOING back 8 years, well we have gone back decades to have the current ‘free for all’ where deve-lopers get their way; plans get amended and approved; where buildings get built different to the approved plans; where standards are not maintained!
-the list goes on
“returning local councils to having a role in their communities is opening opportunities for corruption” …
Well, it might be that too many residents have lost out, and a more accountable and transparent system operating through local councils may indeed be the very mechanism that reduces the potential for corruption!
-that somehow with all the faults found in the building of high-rise apartments that this is better without local authorities having any role to play in the maintenance of standards beggars belief!
-are those calling for no local council involvement got something to hide?
-what are they seeking to avoid?
-would it be – not being able to cut corners, having to comply on all aspects in the building process?
REALLY this vigorous defence of the current system is about protecting the big earnings of developers, so they can continue to dominate the urban landscape, it’s about:
.maximising profits
.marketing their high-rise to foreign buyers
.maximising densities
.minimising building compliance costs
.reducing expenditure on amenities
.rezoning to suit their business model
.removing opposition to their plans at all levels, from local residents, other business owners, from local councils trying their best to uphold standards and the character of communities
.land-banking to ensure their plans are not impeded by community concerns
-curious why was a piece tacked on the end about additional ‘Service NSW’ offices, was this relevant?
And this is only scratching the surface…
‘That is not how you plan a growing city’: Labor moves to combat developers
NSW Labor has vowed to shut a backdoor in the planning system that allows developers to take rezoning applications rejected by a council to the state government, but developers warn this will potentially expose the process to corruption.
Opposition leader Michael Daley on Tuesday seized on growing concerns about overdevelopment and said a Labor government would stop developers from bypassing councils, which should have the final say on how a suburb looks.
NSW Labor Leader Michael Daley speaks to the media at Milperra in Sydney.CREDIT:AAP
Developers, since 2012, have been able to take rejected rezoning applications – usually to build large scale apartment blocks – to the government for approval.
“Right now the law will say [the limit is] a two storey house [on this block], the developer will put an application in for 12 storey units, the council will say no, the developer will run off to the minister and he or his delegate says yes,” Mr Daley said.
“That is not how you plan a growing city. I don’t want a system where developers get what they want every time. I want a calm, considered and studied planning system.”
In the Liberals’ most marginal seat of East Hills, Mr Daley said his changes would empower councils, allow communities to have a greater say, save developers time and money, and give them certainty.
He said the Greater Sydney Commission (GSC), which wasn’t aware of Labor’s promise, would work more closely with councils to ensure local planning standards do not vary wildly across borders.
The government rejected Mr Daley’s assertions, saying his plan would wind the clock back eight years and worsen congestion, house prices and planning delays.
“Combined with Labor’s planned cancellation of projects like the Western Harbour Tunnel and the Sydenham to Bankstown Metro our cities will choke with congestion,” NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said.
Urban Taskforce, a developer lobby group, said “spot rezoning” was necessary because councils’ Local Environmental Plans (LEPs) – which guide planning decisions – were old, outdated and didn’t take population growth and new infrastructure such as the new metro lines into account.
Its CEO Chris Johnson said the rezoning review system allowed developers to take proposals – rejected based on “decades old” LEPs – to an expert panel appointed by the government that considers the “bigger picture”.
Labor leader Michael Daley in campaign mode in East Hills.CREDIT:AAP
He confirmed dozens of planning proposals were going through the process but had slowed down recently.
“Giving councils too much power in the rezoning process creates an environment conducive to corruption,” Mr Johnson said.
“Spot rezoning is also about ensuring that anti-development councils cannot undermine the metropolitan wide approach taken by the GSC.”
Property Council NSW said Labor had diagnosed the right disease – a slow, costly and inflexible planning system – but got the causes wrong.
Its executive director Jane Fitzgerald said instead of abolishing “spot rezoning”, Labor should fast-track the updating of LEPs, which is under way, and make sure the housing targets are equitable and meet population growth estimates.
“If properly updated, LEPs would allow for changes in land use and up-zoning where necessary, for example, to allow the right level of housing around new Metro stations,” she said.
Mr Daley, Labor’s shadow planning spokesman before becoming leader, said the Liberals had politicised the GSC and under him would become an “independent and free” statutory body.
“Despite all the political interference they’re doing a good job, but they can do a better job,” he said.
The GSC wouldn’t comment but stressed it “does not play an approval or assessment role for DAs or planning proposals”.
Earlier in the battleground seat of East Hills, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced Service NSW will expand with the rollout of 10 new Service Centres in Sydney’s growth suburbs, including Merrylands, Randwick and Revesby.
That they have to work for such AWFULIZERS … contrary to the interests, well-being, quality of life for Our Australian Families being overrun by those taking advantage of Visa manipulation to benefit from “permanent residency” through laundering black money in Australian Real Estate …
As detailed herein “the Plan” – is to BETRAY Australians further having REZONED our Middle Ring Suburbs to BULLDOZE for more flats, townhouses, triplex, duplex and boarding houses for a continuing high migrant/visa influx … get outa the way Sydneysiders … as GB would say!
-NSW Planning; July 2018; Greenfield Housing Code:200M2 X 6M wide lots; with even less trees!
And with insecure work; contract work our Families can neither get finance nor afford housing with the lowest wages growth!
ASK yourself do these political parties deserve your loyalty when they reciprocate with none whatsoever?
CAAN Photo: Lane Cove
CAAN Photo: Putney Hill
Photo: The Ponds, Western Sydney.
Grattan Institute’s urban infill utopia makes Sydney hotter
For years, ‘Big Australia’ booster, the Grattan Institute, has called for Australia’s supposedly underutilised middle-ring suburbs to be bulldozed for apartments and townhouses in order to house the many millions of extra migrants projected to inundateour cities over coming decades.
This transformation into a dense urban form is to be most stark in Sydney, where the Urban Taskforce projects that only one quarter of dwellings will be detached houses in 2057, down significantly from 55% currently:
This transformation will obviously also see reduced access to green space, according to Infrastructure Australia’s modelling, as Melbourne’s and Sydney’s populations balloon to a projected 7.3 million and 7.4 million people by 2046 (see last row below):
Another thing conveniently ignored by immigration extremists like the Grattan Institute is that in addition to eroding all markers of liveability (see above), their urban infill utopia will also make our cities hotter, causing increased heat-related deaths.
That’s the view of Tony Matthews – a senior lecturer in urban and environmental planning at Griffith University – who last month penned the following:
“Heat stress actually causes more deaths in Australia than all of the other natural disasters combined”…
Middle-ring suburbs were more likely to be the leafy, cool retreats created by postwar architecture and planting…
“The real problem comes when we try and increase densities, which we have done in a suburban context through a quality called urban consolidation,” he said.
“And that has been taken up through most of the capital cities, all of the capital cities, in fact.
*“It’s squeezing more floorspace out of less land, so that’s why we’re seeing so many apartments, so many townhouses, we’re also seeing a reduction in block sizes from maybe 700 metres or 650 metres to 400 metres.”
CAAN Photo: fugly duplex; lot stripped of all trees and vegetation; street tree remains; how would you like this fortress, or rows of them in your street? Garden Estate and community robbed of their rights by NSW LNP, and Federal LNP with high immigration and Visa manipulation for permanent residency.
Squeezing more properties onto land means there is less room for parks, trees, or anything other than constructed buildings, he said.
The result is dense, urban fringe suburbs with little greenery and houses with no gardens, parks reduced in size as competition for tenancy grows…
“What I feel we have done with these suburbs is we have locked them into a pattern of heat stress, limited outdoor activity, limited use of the public realm, and all of the problems that come with that because they’re not green enough and in some cases they don’t have the potential to be any greener,” Dr Matthews said.
Today, The Daily Telegraph also reports that “rampant” tree removal in Sydney’s North West is leading to “ecological disaster” and raising temperatures:
Sydney’s northwest is facing an “ecological disaster” as a chainsaw massacre of thousands of trees in leafy suburbs make way for new developments and send urban heat soaring.
Preliminary works on major developments in Macquarie Park and Epping are cutting down hundreds of trees as a war of words breaks out over who is to blame for the “environmental atrocity” turning suburbs into concrete jungles…
New data shows big developers and mum-and-dad investors are peppering Ryde and Parramatta councils with development applications to remove trees…
Cr Wilson said…. “when you are putting more people into a limited area, the environment is going to suffer”…
State Labor candidate for Epping Alan Mascarenhas said… “Overdevelopment heats up our suburbs, trees cool them down. “I don’t want Epping going the way of the Parramatta CBD where developers have run riot and the place is basically a tinderbox in summer.”
The Grattan Institute’s infill utopia of jamming millions more people into the existing urban footprint will necessarily chew-up green space as backyards, trees and open space are removed to make way for additional dwellings.
And this will necessarily exacerbate the ‘heat island’ effect afflicting our cities, in turn raising energy use (think air conditioners).
Clearly, maintaining green infrastructure in our major cities is not consistent with the projected explosion of their populations via mass immigration, along with planning rules that force increased population density.
THE GREATER SYDNEY COMMISSION is to conduct an independent Assurance Review of Planning in the Ryde Local Government Area, with a particular focus on the Macquarie Park Investigation Area, and its broader impact on the RYDE LGA!
MANY would suggest this is “not before time”! NOR is it sufficient!
The Ryde Community is not only being impacted negatively by the Macquarie Park High-Rise Precinct with the diminution of the Business and Information Technology Parks but with overdevelopment of high-rise and medium-density across the Local Government Area!
VIEW a few sample photos of overdevelopment below …
PRECINCTS:
-Meadowbank/Shepherd’s Bay
-Melrose Park
-Top Ryde
-North Ryde Station Precinct
-Gladesville
All surrounding roads are congested; schools, hospitals, buses are full-up; the rail link has been shut down!
TO REGISTER EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST:
The Commission is inviting community members, groups and stakeholders to register expressions of interest to speak with the Assurance Panel at Panel Listening Sessions on the evenings of Tuesday 5 and Thursday 7 February 2019. People also have the option of lodging a short summary of their views online.
The Commission will conduct an independent Assurance Review of planning in the Ryde LGA, with a particular focus on the Macquarie Park Investigation Area and its broader impact on the Ryde LGA.
The Assurance Review will also consider:
The alignment of planning and development with the GSRP and the North District Plan, including relevant policies on housing, commercial and industrial lands;
The provision of associated infrastructure, including education, transport and roads; and
Any other relevant matters.
The Assurance Panel will work and consult with the Department of Planning and Environment, City of Ryde Council, Transport for NSW, Department of Education, other relevant state and local agencies and Dr Deborah Dearing as the District Commissioner, North.
The Assurance Review will provide an opportunity for community and stakeholder views to be heard.
The Commission will provide to the Premier a preliminary assessment identifying key matters for further analysis in February 2019.
The Commission will report to the Premier in May 2019 with an assessment of the current situation and any steps the Commission would recommend be taken to improve outcomes for the current and future residents of the Ryde LGA.
CAAN Photo: Herring Road Precinct Macquarie Park corner Epping Road and Herring Road. Many comment this development looks like Guanghzou?
WHY did this and like massive Precincts come about other than to benefit developers and their foreign clients?
-a whole Cohort of Australians have been locked out of the housing market
Row upon row of apartment towers in the background. Like developments are repeated along Herring Road and shortly to appear on the opposite side of Herring Road.
Macquarie Park has sadly become like Chatswood!
CAAN Photo: November 2018. PRIME MACQUAIRE BY JQZ four towers fronting onto Waterloo Road.
JQZ four Towers … promoted as a Precinct in itself! This development has replaced a number of commercial buildings! And jobs!
Most lots at Macquarie Park are being redeveloped for residential contrary to the origins of the Park as a Business Park!
CAAN Photo: a Sunday afternoon; November 2018; further up Epping Road, the Greenland Lachlan’s Line Precinct, Macquarie Park. In the background Country Garden, Ryde Garden, North Ryde Station Precinct; both having a huge negative impact on the village of North Ryde and beyond! Robbing neighbourhoods of former bushland vistas. Also having diminished the future growth of the Business and Information Technology Parks!
CAAN Photo: a recent development nearing completion at Meadowbank/Shepherd’s Bay. What appears to be an apartment development with Townhouses on top?
Meadowbank continues to grow and grow. Is it any wonder that for much of the day Lane Cove Road/Ryde Road is in gridlock with Rhodes, and Wentworth Point on the other side of the Parramatta River?
CAAN Photo: Another street of high-rise development has recently added to the growth of Meadowbank! Recommend viewing the sheer size of the Meadowbank Precinct from the Ryde Bridge.
CAAN Photo: This is an 8-bedroom duplex with 6 bathrooms. It is built forward of the setback diminishing properties on either side; robbing them of their amenity including views, privacy and market value! At the rear the home owner has had to block their windows for privacy! They no longer enjoy family bbqs on the deck! This development is so close! Out of character; negative social impact.
All trees have been removed; at the front the bedrooms face west!
Picture a Medium-Density “Manor House”, a block of 3 or 4 flats or a 12 room BOARDING HOUSE being squeezed on a 600M2 lot NEXTDOOR! The impact of like developments on water and sewage systems, parking, infrastructure, the environment, the incumbents!
CAAN Photo: All vegetation removed to accommodate the build of this duplex. With its sheer bulk it diminishes its substantial 2-storey neighbouring homes; it overlooks them! Built forward of the set-back; it robs the neighbours of market value, privacy, their community rights.
These photos above are but a couple of examples of like development that has reared its ugly head all over the Ryde LGA.
By contrast in the same garden estate this beautiful home has been redeveloped from its great bones of a 1960s home. There is no loss of garden or tree cover. It complements surrounding homes. It has not robbed its neighbours of their views or amenity!
With this Ryde community having invested their life savings in their homes, what gives developers the right to ride roughshod over this community? To rob this community and those all over Greater Sydney of what they have paid for?
AN EVENING WITH LUCY TURNBULL, THE GREATER SYDNEY COMMISSION & DEVELOPER MATES …‘ASSURANCE REVIEW’ ON PLANNING IN THE RYDE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA
IS this a joke?
WHY have an ‘Economic Commissioner’ on this Panel when the outcomes are both social and environmental degradation?
ISN’T this really about the ‘productivity’ (aka profit) that flows to developers for building dog-box flats?
What are the ‘Terms of Reference?’
CAAN has learnt “they” had a little independent review into SUTHERLAND’s LEP 2015 as the community were all screaming OVERDEVELOPMENT!
It had ‘Terms of Reference’ also.
A complete and utter joke because if arguments against the OVERDEVELOPMENT don’t fit in with their ‘Terms of Reference’ …
HOW likely is it that RYDE will be treated any differently? Cough … cough …
VIEW THE PHOTOS HEREIN WHICH ILLUSTRATE THE BAD OUTCOMES FROM OVERDEVELOPMENT IN THE RYDE LGA
“The Assurance Review will be led by a Panel of Commissioners chaired by the Chief Commissioner Lucy Turnbull AO and including the Deputy Chief Commissioner and Economic Commissioner Geoff Roberts.
Commission to conduct Assurance Review on planning in the Ryde Local Government Area
*The Commission is inviting community members, groups and stakeholders to register expressions of interest to speak with the Assurance Panel at Panel Listening Sessions on the evenings of Tuesday 5 and Thursday 7 February 2019.
People also have the option of lodging a short summary of their views online.
While the Assurance Panel will try to hear from as many people as possible, it may not be possible for everyone who wishes to speak to have the opportunity to do so.
We may therefore use the information provided by you in your expression of interest to prioritise speakers whose concerns most closely relate to the Assurance Review Terms of Reference or select a speaker to represent common issues or themes.
If the Panel is unable to hear from everyone, they will give consideration to all written submissions provided in the Expression of Interest.
Expressions of Interest close on Tuesday 29 January 2019.
Applicants will be informed of the status of their request to speak with the Panel on 31 January 2019.
Please note, spaces are limited. We will endeavour to accommodate as many interested parties as possible.
for more information on the Review process and how to get involved.”
WHAT will the NSW ALP do about OVERDEVELOPMENT?
Will it direct Urban Taskforce and the Property Council of Australia to build quality affordable homes exclusively for Australian First Home Buyers as per the CAAN PLAN? VIEW: FOR THE ALP SUGGESTION BOX … HOUSING FOR AUSTRALIAN FIRST HOME BUYERS …
And Buildaffordable Rental accommodationthat will allowAustralian tenants to save for their own home! Rather than they become life-long tenants?
And restore Public Housing to give more than 50,000 NSW Homeless People home security?
CAAN Photo: Ivanhoe Estate, an Architect designed Public Housing Estate, a mere 26 years old demolished to make way for private redevelopment; Stage 1 demolition!
BECAUSE where we live continues to be destroyed to fill the coffers of the developer lobby building awful developments for their foreign buyer clients keen to gain Permanent Residency!
CAAN Photo: Herring Road, Macquarie Park Precinct; corner Herring Road and Epping Road with several apartments in depth. The opposite side of Herring Road is undergoing demolition for more high-rise including the Public Housing Ivanhoe Estate.
CAAN Photo: Prime by Chinese developer JQZ, A “PRECINCT” within itself; Waterloo Road Macquarie Park. This residential development replaced a number of commercial buildings that provided jobs within the Macquarie Business Park!
CAAN Photo: Lachlan’s Line by Chinese Real Estate Group Greenland with Country Garden in the background. LL Housing 2700 dwellings within this gated estate. As many remark it is like developments seen in China … why the need for this here in Australia unless of course it is about developers building for the foreign market …
This was formerly Public Land which could have been utilised for a bus interchange, parking or recreational/cultural use for the Ryde LGA community!
CAAN Photo: Overdevelopment continues at Meadowbank/Shepherd’s Bay. Are these Townhomes atop apartments? Legoland? View our photo album for a view of how overdevelopment continues at Meadowbank and/or view for yourself from the Ryde Bridge!
CAAN Photo: Length of a road in Meadowbank with apartment development underway!
With massive Precincts across the river at Rhodes, Wentworth Point, and Sydney Olympic Park, is it any wonder that Ryde Road/Lane Cove Road are in gridlock for much of the day?
The NSW LNP proposes the Medium-Density Housing Code of the MANOR HOUSE (a block of 3 or 4 flats) numbering 40,000 for the Ryde LGA!
CAAN Photo: A duplex built forward of the setback robbing its neighbour of their amenity including outlook, views, privacy and market value! Picture a Manor House (a block of 3 or 4 flats) development on this lot and the impact that would have on neighbours!
CAAN Photo: A duplex development almost the size of a Manor House! Built in a garden estate with homes among the “gum trees”; another example of developer greed robbing the neighbours of their amenity; built forward of the setback and close to the rear fence forcing the properties at the rear to restort to blocking their windows for privacy! AWFUL! Fugliness …
HOW CAN THE ALP BUILD ENOUGH SCHOOLS AND HOSPITALS TO ACCOMMODATE THE HIGH IMMIGRATION?
-with Billions of People across Asia keen to gain Permanent Residency in Australia
WHAT WILL THE ALP DO TO STOP VISA MANIPULATION THAT HAS CREATED THIS PREDICAMENT FOR AUSTRALIA?
IT would seem that a REVIEW OF PLANNING across the RYDE LGA is long overdue!
IT SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED BACK IN 2012!
The OVERDEVELOPMENT began with the arrival of Chinese developer, COUNTRY GARDEN and the NORTH RYDE STATION PRECINCT and a Consultation Committee of local residents sworn to secrecy!
THAT WAS THE COMMUNITY CONSULTATION!
VIEW CAAN photo albums for pictorial tours of OVERDEVELOPMENT, and the grief it has rendered many Constituents as they continue to be ignored …
This article …
FINALLY with strong opposition from a new Mayor Jerome Laxale and his “Save Our Streets” Campaign, and a very concerned Ryde Liberal MP, Victor Dominello, has the Berejiklian Government been forced to respond with this planning review due to an Election in March?
NOTE … the report back will not be until May 2019!
PERHAPS the reports from Infrastructure Australia and others have brought home a realisation that the infrastructure projects cannot compete with the high population growth through immigration?
IT is the takeover of the Ryde LGA Business and IT Parks for Precinct residentialdevelopment that has eroded their ranking and the consequent loss of businesses and jobs for locals!
Adding to traffic congestion, the loss of:
-amenity
-urban bushlands
-public land for open space and/or facilities
-capacity for commercial interests
-heritage
WILL the NSW Government ensure that no further public lands are sold off for Housing development?
BACKGROUND … and that which this Daily Telegraph article fails to include:
RYDE MAYOR Jerome Laxale hit back at Victor Dominello accusing him of backing the Meriton plans over the past year.
DESPITE community-wide objections to the Herring Road High-Rise Precinct, Macquarie Park, and the Meriton proposal is again in the hands of the NSW Government through the Greater Sydney Commission, and its ties to the developer lobby!
THE Mayor previously slammed the Berejiklian Government for “turning Ryde into a developers’ Disneyland” through rezoning.
This article further raises concern for the Ryde Community in that Mrs Turnbull has said the investigation would focus on the Macquarie Park Business Park …
HOW will that suffice with the high-rise Precincts not only of Macquarie Park but of Meadowbank, Melrose Park, Top Ryde, North Ryde Station Precinct, and other High-rise estates in Gladesville, West Ryde everywhere in between?
AND the imminent threat of the Medium-Density Housing Code strongly opposed by the Ryde Mayor of the Manor House, terraces, townhouses, triplex, duplex and Villa Homes to be built nextdoor to low-rise cottages? For a foreign market!
–40,000 Manor House/blocks of flats proposed for the Ryde Electorate!
Premier Gladys Berejiklian orders urgent review into development in Ryde
Gladys Berejiklian has ordered an urgent review into the overdevelopment of Ryde, where more than 13,000 extra people have been jammed in recent years.
The under-pressure Premier has caved into the demands of her Finance Minister Victor Dominello, who has been fighting development in the area for months.
Ms Berejiklian has asked the Greater Sydney Commission, led by Lucy Turnbull, to conduct the review.
State MP for Ryde and Minister for Finance Victor Dominello at the site of the proposed 63 storey Meriton development on Talavera Rd at Macquarie Park. Picture: John Appleyard
It comes after The Daily Telegraph reported earlier this year that crime rates in Ryde — dubbed a “developers’ Disneyland” — have soared in the past two years.
The commission told the Premier last week that it has already begun a preliminary assessment of the planning situation in Ryde and the key issues affecting the area.
Mr Dominello, who is the state MP for Ryde, has already helped introduce a two-year freeze on new rezoning applications for residential housing in the area, making Ryde the only place in Sydney where this suspension is in force.
MORE NEWS
Crime rates have soared in Ryde in the past two years as development has overtaken all other services. Picture: Darren Leigh Roberts
In a letter to the Premier, obtained by the Telegraph, Mrs Turnbull said the investigation would focus on the Macquarie Park business park and its broader impact on the community.
“The commission will work with the Department of Planning and Environment to understand the work it has been doing in this area over the past several years,” Mrs Turnbull said.
The commission is due to make its recommendations in May.
Greater Sydney Commissioner Lucy Turnbull. Picture: Britta CampionPremier Gladys Berejiklian has called for an urgent review. Picture: AAP
Mr Dominello said Ryde residents were concerned that development is outpacing social infrastructure such as roads, schools and parks.
“The review will put the issue of development under the microscope and prioritise the interests of the community and families,” he said.
“There appears to be a disconnect between Ryde Council and the Department of Planning, hence the need for the Greater Sydney Commission to step in.”
Mr Dominello speaking at a residents protest meeting called ‘stop overdevelopment in North Ryde’ back in 2010.
Ryde mayor Jerome Laxale said the council is meeting tonight (DEC 4 2018) to discuss community feedback regarding a proposed 63-storey Meriton development.
“The results of that community consultation will be considered at council tomorrow and I will be moving a recommendation of refusal,” Mr Laxale, who has previously slammed the government for “turning Ryde into a developers’ Disneyland” through rezoning, said.
Ryde Mayor Jerome Laxale said council would discuss community feedback about the planned Meriton development on Monday night. Picture: Justin Lloyd
Mr Dominello said regardless of the council decision, “the proposal will now need be considered in the context of the Greater Sydney Commission’s review, to ensure it meets community expectations”.
WESTERN SYDNEY SUBURBS now copping the brunt previously suffered by others across Greater Sydney not only in the inner ring but Sydney’s middle ring …
Asia buyers market 100% …
The AWFULIZERS … NSW INC, the Greater Sydney Con, Sinister Planning, developer lobby … the lobbyists, and all low-life associated destroying Our Heritage, Urban Bushlands, Communities, Neighbourhoods, and the vegetable fields and livestock farms now being replaced with treeless suburbs cheek by jowl …
HOW can five million seedlings replace the tree cover lost?
-just months ago a mere 9 per cent of the Cumberland Plain Woodland survives
The reality for many residents is an over-reliance on their cars, 90 minute commutes, and distance to schools and healthcare. And no trees.
WHY hasn’t Sydney got leading World Public Transport with NSW INC stamp duty coffers 2012 – 2017 overflowing?
NSW Liberal Party President Philip Ruddock was appalled by the cheek by jowl Camden housing …
-he blamed prior governmentsignoring the Hazzard Planning Law changes, and the LNP growth agenda …
WITH more cheek by jowl housing with the Greenfields Housing Code of 200 M2 lots
THE OBVIOUS SOLUTION IS A STOP TO HIGH IMMIGRATION, VISA MANIPULATION and for the Ponzi Promoters to go and destroy somewhere else ..
WHY are we “the People of Sydney” … Millions of Us … allowing this?
Western Sydney suburbs to cop brunt of new developments
Western Sydney will absorb the equivalent of five Newcastles on its fringes to accommodate unprecedented population growth.
What were once vegetable fields and livestock farms that helped feed the city are treeless new suburbs where athletic kids can almost jump from rooftop to rooftop.
Suburbs going from paddock to pavement in the next decade include Vineyard and Marsden Park in the north west, Leppington and Edmondson Park in the south west and Wilton and the Macarthur region south of Campbelltown.
These areas will have 333,000 new homes and 322,120 new jobs in the next 20 years.
Work has already begun on Sydney’s second airport at Badgerys Creek. Once completed it will be home to 60,000 new dwellings and bring with it 200,000 jobs.
University of Sydney researcher Dr Jennifer Kent studied those living in Oran Park.
An 11,200 ha site around the airport will include the development of the semirural suburb of Rossmore into a mix of medium and high-density housing.
While in the Greater Macarthur Growth Area 58,000 new homes are expected with the development of south Glenfield into a mix of low-density housing and retail bringing with it 40,000 jobs with the expansion of education, trades and industrial jobs.
Further south in the Wilton Growth Area, an extra 15,000 homes will be centred around the township of Wilton, connecting to Bingara Gorge.
The state government says greenfield growth is a plus for homebuyers, jobseekers and a booming NSW economy.
The Greater Sydney Commission’s Western City plan will mean, in theory, that those living west of Blacktown can stay there for work and play.
The aim is to have a maximum of 30-minute commutes.
The state government also argues they are planting five million trees in Greater Sydney in the next four years to increase canopy cover.
Butthe realityfor many residents is anover-reliance on their cars, 90 minute commutes, and distance to schools and healthcare. And no trees.
“If I was there you would find me wanting to push for a greater tree canopy,” Hornsby Mayor and former immigration minister Philip Ruddock told The Sunday Telegraph.
Aerial view of Oran Park taken in September 2010. Picture: NearmapThe same view of Oran Park taken in January 2015. Picture: NearmapOran Park is now home to 8000 residents. This picture taken in September. Picture: Nearmap
*“I went to Camden and, quite frankly, when I look at blocks that are cheek by the jowl — with no adequate setbacks, tree planting or appropriate reservations — they are appalling.
“That reflects on those governments that were allowing that to happen 10-15 years ago.
“I drove back through it and saw kilometre after kilometre (of houses) which I hadn’t anticipated or expected.”
Another 12,300 houses are expected to the built in the Camden Local Government Area in the next four years.
For every two detached houses built in Sydney there are eight apartments erected, according to Infrastructure Australia.
But the reality is hundreds of apartments can occupy the land that four houses do.
As a result, Sydney keeps on going out.
*Western Sydney University’ Associate Professor of Urban Planning Awais Piracha said he would not have so many homes being built so far from the city.
He believes that only one in ten dwellings built should be detached houses, with the rest being apartments and homes in established areas.
One of the suburbs at the edge of this sprawl is Oran Park, which has seen its population go from 169 people in 2011 to its current 8000.
Oran Park, in Sydney’s southwest, was hailed as our new healthy living development but research has revealed its residents are reliant on cars, with some suffering through an “extreme commute”.
A University of Sydney study has found its residents are experiencing longer trips to work with their average journey-time increasing from 35 minutes to about 50 minutes one way.
And one in five reported they were now dealing with an “extreme commute” — spending 90 minutes travelling each way.
Researcher Dr Jennifer Kent said the study of nearly 320 Oran Park residents showed living in a bigger home had influenced their decision to relocate.
“Basically people weren’t really interested or motivated by trying to reduce their travel times,” Dr Kent said.
“They were much more interested in providing their kids with green open places to play in, having access to good schools, having their own backyard, having a house that’s big enough to be able to provide for a family than they were about spending less time in a car.”
With no train station and limited public transport options, Dr Kent said longer commutes from Oran Park were causing anxiety, stress and feelings of unhappiness among residents.
Dr Kent said it was only a matter of time until it also affected their physical health.
Oran Park was developed using the Heart Foundation’s Healthy Active By Design guidelines with locals having access to walking and cycling paths.
“It’s an interesting site in that it was specifically designed to encourage a healthy lifestyle,” Dr Kent said.
“They really tried to do the right thing but at the end of the day, if the state government doesn’t come up with the transport infrastructure and the connectivity to other uses then people’s health is going to be impacted.”
The state government has flagged plans to build a train station in the booming suburb, but it’s unlikely to open in the next decade.
Theclosest station is 13km away at Leppington.
Dr Kent said with an infrastructure lag, the government’s plans for 30-minutecommutes across Sydney were currently “an impossible dream”.
“If that’s what we’re basing our hopes for a city on, we’re in trouble,” she said.
In a report released earlier this week, Federal Government body Infrastructure Australia urged the state government to stop the sprawl and make sure more houses were built close to public transport, schools and shops.
“It is not desirable or affordable for governments to continue accommodating the projected population growth in new greenfield areas on the fringes,” the report said.
A Department of Planning spokeswoman says it “does not agree with this statement with regards to Sydney”.
A separate NSW Auditor General’s report released this week found the NSW Department of Planning will struggle to meet infrastructure spending targets in the next four years.
This is despite 196,750 new dwellings being built across Sydney between 2017 and 2022.
A Transport for NSW spokesman said since March 2011, the NSW Government has added over 3,300 new weekly bus services to routes in Northwest and Southwest Growth Centres and Western Sydney Aerotropolis.
“Sydney Metro Northwest, which is due to open in the second quarter of next year, is delivering 13 metro railway stations in Sydney’s north west, with trains running between Tallawong and Chatswood every four minutes in the peak in each direction,” he said.
“Transport for NSW is looking at the future needs of Western Sydney and is working with the community to protect a comprehensive network of transport corridors needed to support future growth, and provide for the planned new Western Sydney Airport and the proposed Western Parkland City north of Oran Park.”
A Department of Planning spokesman said “far from being ‘on the fringes’, residents — whether they are first time buyers, downsizers, families or individuals — living in greenfield areasaround the ‘three cities’ model not only benefit from proximity but also from housing diversity, choice and affordability.”
“Greenfield land releases, tied to infrastructure delivery, will help to secure the creation of over 200,000 new jobs for the Western Parkland City, leveraging the economic opportunities of the Western Sydney Airport,” the DoP spokeswoman said.
“It is important there is a diversity of new housing choices available to support the development of the new Parkland City.”
THIS REPORT IS A SMOKESCREEN! Reads like a NSW INC Media Release …
There is another agenda here … where is the real agenda?
As if Berejiklian and Turnbull are not talking on a daily basis … what a low opinion they must have for the Public if they believe we believe this cr.p!
The NSW Election is in March 2019, and with so much OVERDEVELOPMENT IN RYDE, who knows how many former rusted on LNP voters will be changing their vote?
THIS IS A MESSAGE ON OVERDEVELOPMENT FOR ALL POLITICAL PARTIES!
FACTS ….
From Ryde Mayor Jerome Laxale:
TheMotion to Refuse the MERITON 112 Talavera Road Macquarie Park Proposal
Ryde Council notes that the State Government has already imposed the capacity for 15,000 extra dwellings in the Macquarie University (Herring Road) and North Ryde Priority Precincts, and reaffirms Council’s demands the State Government abolish Priority Precincts in Ryde
That the City of Ryde reaffirms its demand to be exempt permanently from the Medium Density Housing Code
That the City of Ryde notes deliberate and misleading political commentary surrounding the Meriton application.
Residential tower rejected by council – but development drama isn’t over yet
The Ryde residential tower that has become a lightning rod for political concerns about development in Sydney has been rejected by the local council, but could still proceed if approved by the state government.
Councillors from the City of Ryde on Tuesday night voted to refuse a planning proposal submitted by developer Meriton for a 42-storey tower at 112 Talavera Road, Macquarie Park, despite council staff recommending that the project had merit.
The original plan from Meriton that included a 63-storey tower was rejected by Ryde Council. CREDIT:RYDE COUNCIL
Meriton had earlier submitted a proposal for a 63-storey tower, which would have been one of Sydney’s tallest residential structures, but lowered it in response to community concerns.
The Member for Ryde, Victor Dominello, has been leading a campaign against the proposal, and blamed the council and Labor Mayor Jerome Laxale for allowing Meriton’s plan to get to this stage of the planning process.
In turn, Mr Laxale has stressed the state government had established two “planned precincts” for increased development in the Ryde area.
“Council received more than 400 submissions on this matter, of which the vast majority were against the planning proposal due to a range of concerns including traffic congestion, inadequate supporting infrastructure and loss of local amenity and character,” Cr Laxale, who will be Labor’s candidate in the March state election, said after Tuesday night’s council vote on the proposal.
Meriton’s revised Macquarie Park proposal which included three 42-storey towers, down from the original plan of 63 storeys at 112 Talavera Road.CREDIT:RYDE COUNCIL
However the planning proposal could still proceed if approved by the Minister for Planning or a delegate.
Finance Minister Victor Dominello with Premier Gladys Berejiklian.CREDIT:AAP
Mr Dominello, who is close to Premier Gladys Berejiklian, has already managed to secure a number of unusual carve-outs for his area. No new residential rezoning proposals will be considered in Ryde over the next year – the only area in which such a moratorium applies.
And Ms Berejiklian also wrote to the Greater Sydney Commission, meanwhile, requesting that it conduct an “assurance review” into development in Ryde.
Chief commissioner of the Greater Sydney Commission, Lucy Turnbull, replied to Ms Berejiklian last week saying her agency would conduct this review into what the Department of Planning and Environment “has been doing in the area over the past several years.”
Mr Dominello has touted the “assurance review” as a win for the community. But the unusual request drew immediate criticism from the state opposition, who said the Premier was using the Greater Sydney Commission as a political football.
“The Premier’s call for intervention, three months before the state election, stands to compromise the integrity of the Greater Sydney Commission,” said Labor’s planning spokeswoman, Tania Mihailuk.
The City of Ryde is holding an extraordinary meeting for 4 December to seek support from all Councillors to send a recommendation of REFUSAL to the State Government for Meriton’s proposal for 112 Talavera Road, Macquarie Park.
The State have always had, and always will have the power to determine this and all proposals!
The two-year freeze is up in July 2019 for the Medium Density Manor House
CAAN has shared with you all too numerous photo albums on the overdevelopment of RYDE and MACQUARIE PARK!
Just last week we focused on WATERLOO ROAD MACQUARIE PARK Parts 1 – 3 … and there’s more to share! Previously a number of albums on the North Ryde Country Garden Precinct, Lachlan’s Line Macquarie Park, Herring Road Precinct, Meadowbank/Shepherd’s Bay, Gladesville, Top Ryde, Melrose Park and many in between!
MACQUARIE PARK was developed a mere 30 years ago as a Business and Information Technology Park but due to Liberal domination of the Ryde Council back in 2011/12 and Liberal government in NSW much of this Business Park has been redeveloped for high-rise residential with huge job and commercial losses!
DESPITE the community-wide ongoing objection with the NSW LNP Government imposing:
-some 15,000 units in 2 Priority Precincts
-2,700 units at Lachlan’s Line
-3,500 units at Ivanhoe Estate (following demolition of the Public Housing Estate)
-setting additional housing targets of 7,600 for Ryde to be delivered in 5 years; Hunters Hill only has a target of 150
-up to 40,000 Manor House dwellings under the Medium-Density Housing Code in Ryde
The said freeze on blocks of 3 or 4 flats (Manor House) ceases in July 2019
VIEW our Photo Album to see how “complying development” and Medium-Density may well impact where you live! Awful!
MP Victor Dominello seeks Premier’s approval for ‘urgent’ Ryde planning review
Ryde State Liberal MP Victor Dominello has ramped up his push to stop “ad hoc” and “ill-considered” planning decisions by Ryde Council, just days out from a crucial vote on Meriton’s 63-storey towers proposal for Macquarie Park.
Mr Dominello has written to Premier Gladys Berejiklian to seek her approval for the Greater Sydney Commission to conduct an “urgent” planning review into the City of Ryde.
In a letter exclusively obtained by the Northern District Times, the Finance Minister claims the council has put the community through a year of “unnecessary stress” after it gave gateway approval for Meriton’s plan, which would put four towers of 27, 30, 45 and 63 storeys at 112 Talavera Rd.
Meriton’s proposed towers project at Macquarie Park
“Ryde Council should never have supported this proposal in the first place,” Mr Dominello says in the letter, dated November 23.
“Given the legitimate angst in the community on the issue of overdevelopment and the ongoing animosity between Ryde Council and (the Department of Planning), I request that the GSC be asked to undertake an urgent review of planning in the Macquarie Park Precinct with a view to considering broader ramifications throughout the Ryde Council area.
“The Ryde community is sick of the finger pointing and the blame game. They want a sensible approach to any future planning, not ad hoc and ill-considered decision-making.”
Mr Dominello’s latest move comes after he already secured a two-year freeze on new rezoning applications for residential housing in Ryde, the only Sydney LGA to win this sort of planning reprieve.
He said today he had “lost all confidence” in Ryde Council’s ability to deal with planning proposals.
This is how the Meriton building would look at Talavera Rd, Macquarie Park.Ryde MP Victor Dominello, pictured today at the site of the proposed Meriton towers, is taking a stand against overdevelopment in his electorate. Picture: John Appleyard
“It’s time for the Greater Sydney Commission to step in,” Mr Dominello told the Times. “The Macquarie Park Precinct review is long overdue. The Department of Planning was meant to have done this in concert with Ryde Council, but that relationship is seemingly unworkable.”
Ryde Council will consider the Meriton towers proposal at an extraordinary meeting next Tuesday.
Mayor Jerome Laxale said council had received 400 public submissions, most of which were strongly against the plan.
“The overwhelming majority were opposed on height and traffic grounds,” he said.
“There’s such high public interest in this that we’ve brought the meeting forward to December 4 (to make a recommendation to the State Government’s planning panel, which has the final say).”
Ryde Mayor Jerome Laxale says he will oppose the Meriton plan at next week’s council meeting.
Cr Laxale was one of those who voted in favour of sending the Meriton out for community consultation a year ago.
Earlier this year, he said the council got the best deal for ratepayers it could manage.
“The choice we had was between a rock and a hard place,” Cr Laxale said.
But on Friday, he said he would be opposing the plan on Tuesday night.
“Now that I’ve reviewed the final planning proposal, voluntary planning agreement and, most importantly, the community feedback, I will be recommending refusal,” said the Labor Mayor, who will contest next year’s state election in the seat of Ryde.
He hit back at Mr Dominello for accusing him of backing the Meriton plans over the past year.
Meriton’s proposed project at Macquarie Park.
“He says that I support it, but it’s a lie. He said that council wants a 63-storey development, but what evidence does he have of that?” Cr Laxale said.
“He also said on Channel 7 that I’ve signed off on 60 storeys. That’s a blatant lie. I haven’t physically signed off anything … but also, it’s not approved.”
Cr Laxale sidestepped the question when asked if supported the Meriton plan at any stage.
“This is the first time we can vote on this proposal with all the evidence,” he said.
“All that we voted on (last year) was whether this would go out for community consultation … and the message has come back loud and clear that people don’t want this development.
“Mr Dominello is now just blaming everyone else for the mess that Ryde’s now in. It shows you how desperate he is. He is trying every dirty trick to retain his seat next year.”
Was this pulled off by a Lobbyist Group expanding a campaign to unite Sydneysiders to oppose the growth lobby?
By meeting with MPs, and Shadow Ministers and with the “Social Housing” Sector?
Is a uniting of the developer lobby with charities credible?
When the Property Council of Australia and the Urban Taskforce have pulled off the biggest STING of selling Australian Housing overseas, locking out a Whole Cohort of Australians from the Housing Market, whereby the NSW Government has sold off much of its Public Housing; to palm off tenants to the “Social Housing” Sector of charities, with 190,000 people on the Public Housing Waiting List and more than half of the 116,000 Homeless People in NSW.
Developers want A Global Sydney by 2050 … isn’t this more about expanding their development opportunities with avenues of social, affordable, key worker and Build-to-Rent?
This has all the hallmarks of the Greater Sydney Con “speak” with 30 minute cities, but now they want more new station precincts and public transport corridors …for the development of compact residential, commercial, community, education and health hubs by enforceable key performance indicators for development approvals.
The “bottom line” being “better growth” … with questions to be addressed by The Property Council of Australia …
More of the same!
GOOD GROWTH ALLIANCE
26 NOV 2018 PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA
The Property Council has partnered with five other organisations to form the Good Growth Alliance
The Alliance will advocate for better growth for Sydney and NSW
The Alliance has ten proposals that it is asking the NSW Government and Opposition to consider.
Sydney’s peak industry bodies and NGO leaders have joined forces to promote the benefits of well-planned growth in Sydney and wider NSW.
The Property Council, the Committee for Sydney and the Sydney Business Chamber together with the Community Housing Industry Association of NSW, Homelessness NSW and Shelter NSW have formed the Good Growth Alliance.
The Good Growth Alliance has ten proposals for the NSW Government, which it believes, will create a better Sydney and a stronger NSW.
This includes holding a Good Growth Summit within 100 days of the 2019 NSW Election, so communities, industry and government can collaborate more strongly on making Sydney a sustainable, liveable global city by 2050.
The nine other points include:
Boosting housing and driving a renewed policy focus by developing an evidence-based NSW Housing Strategy and funded action plan to increase the supply of social, affordable, key worker and ‘at market’ housingincluding build-to-rent.
Taking the lead on housing issues by appointing a Minister for Housing to deliver the NSW Housing Strategy and establish a multi-sector advisory council.
Delivering at least 5000 additional social housing dwellings per year for the next 10 years by introducing a Capital Growth Fund to increase the supply of social and affordable housing.
Reducing homelessness by committing to an action plan that addresses the key causes of homelessness with the goal of ending homelessness in NSW by 2028.
Planning for growth and equity by ensuring new communities have the same access to public transport, employment, education and community infrastructure as established communities.
Supporting better innovation and design in housing by establishing a housing innovation fund and investigate regulatory barriers to delivering innovative models and design options that improve energy efficiency and reduce the cost of living.
Delivering a 30-minute city by identifying existing and new public transport corridors and station precincts that can accommodate the needs and aspirations of existing communities and support the development of compact residential, commercial, community, education and health hubs.
Inspiring community and industry confidence in the planning system by introducing enforceable key performance indicators for Development Approvals at a local and state level.
Conducting an inquiry into the current funding for social and economic infrastructure in growing communities, including developer contributions, with the aim of providing industry and community greater certainty and consistency.
The ten points seek to support the good work already underway through the Greater Sydney Commission in Metropolitan Sydney.
As Sydney and wider NSW continues to change and grow, it is critical that we show leadership on the key issues that will ensure we achieve good growth; growth that is equitable, sustainable and liveable.
