Al-anwar Newspaper English news in Australia
Davis: to object the whole proposal as we have is a very strong statement
Calls for the State Government to enact the Land Acquisition Act
By Ghassan Nakhoul
The hall would usually be used by parishioners for their liturgical or social gatherings. But this time, the Seniors’ Room at Our Lady of Lebanon Community Centre was crammed with concerned and disgruntled people, not only parishioners but also residents from the area. The occasion was for a community forum to discuss a controversial proposed development in a nearby street.
The proposed development at Gregory Place, Harris Park, is for three tall buildings, with four, six and eight stories each, to replace a disused and old pharmaceutical one-story factory. The bulky three-tower development makes up to 28 meters in height, almost three times the permissible height for this site. The proposed building is to contain 483 apartments, with half of them dedicated to affordable housing, without enough open or recreational spaces on site for the supposed dwellers.
Many interesting matters transpired in that forum which was attended by Parramatta Council officials including the Lord Mayor Donna Davis, as well as people in charge of the many historical sites that distinguish the area, in addition to the Maronite Archbishop of Australia, New Zealand and Oceania, Antione-Charbel Tarabay.
In the forum, it was revealed that the Certificate of Site Compatibility that had been issued to the developers by the NSW Department of Planning & Environment was not valid. It had expired on 19 July 2022. The Certificate was issued on 19 July 2017 and had a life span of five years.
According to experts who attended the forum, the development proposal cannot go ahead and should be terminated immediately because of the expiry of the certificate. The developers should now be directed to seek a new Certificate of Site Compatibility.
The three points upon which the expired Certificate was granted were in stark contradiction with the concerns raised by the opposing parties. There were more than 100 submissions opposing the proposed development.
These submissions came from local government, heritage or social parties or organisations including Parramatta City Council, Sydney Living Museums that looks after the oldest historical standing building in Australia Elizabeth Farm, Parramatta and District Historical Society that runs the nearby Hambledon Cottage, and the National Trust that oversees Experiment Farm.
All these places are of the highest historical significance. Huge bulky buildings like the one proposed for Gregory place will have an adverse impact on the area.
Here is one of the greatest controversial claims made in the expired Certificate of the proposed development. The Certificate notes that the proposed building “is not likely to have an adverse effect on the environment and will not cause any unacceptable environmental risks…”.
The negative impact on the environment was highlighted by almost every adverse submission made against the proposal.
Parramatta Lord Mayor Donna Davis who spoke in the forum said that “it’s not very often that the Council makes a definite objection to a development proposal. Often, they would make a submission and may have particular objections within that submission, but for Council to actually make an objection to the overall development is a very strong statement.”
Cr Davis stressed that the City of Parramatta has exceeded its housing targets, as set by the state government, and that while there is a need for affordable housing, there are more appropriate locations than this site.
Bishop Tarabay also commented on the affordable housing side of the development. He pointed out that the Church is not against affordable housing, but “we should not in any way propose to solve a problem by creating new problems.”
He noted that “this planning proposal as it currently stands is not at all sympathetic to our church community, it is not sympathetic to the national heritage, it is not sympathetic to the school community and to the aged care centre.”
Another point was raised in the forum. The former Lord Mayor of Parramatta Tony Issa asked Cr Davis to put a request to the NSW Government to use its discretionary powers and acquire the land on the basis of its historical significance. This can be carried out under the Land Acquisition Act.
In a chat on the margin of the forum, Cr Davis said that her Council would study all the proposals made in the forum and seek a legal advice on the expiry of the Certificate of Site Compatibility.
Due to the large number of submissions opposing the proposed development, the matter has been referred to the NSW Independent Planning Commission. It is understood that the Commission will ask the developers to answer every concern raised.
A written request was put to Pacific Community Housing by the author of this article to seek the views of the developers and see how they would address the community’s concerns. Pacific Community Housing is looking after the affordable housing component of the proposed development. The request was never answered.
