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Bondi Junction Precinct Minutes.

BONDI JUNCTION PRECINCT

Minutes of Public Meeting

Held Wednesday 1 November 2000, 7.00 pm at the Mill Hill Centre

Council Attendees Councillors Paul Pearce (part), Kerryn Sloan, Mora Main, Sally Betts and Kim Box, Precinct Liaison Officer

Committee Attendees Camilla Drover, Prue Mackay, Paula Gallagher, Eric Gyors, Andrew Bartos

Resident Attendees Refer list attached

Item Status
Meeting commenced at 7.05pm
1 Bequest for Sculpture – Brisbane Street Closure

Prue Mackay advised the meeting that Council has accepted a bequest of $25,000 from the estate of the late Baron Edson, a local solicitor. The bequest is for a sculpture to form part of the streetscape in the vicinity of Gray Street.

A design brief is being developed for the sculpture and then expressions of interest will be sort from artists for a site-specific piece of public art. The sculpture will be abstract and caste in bronze. It will be located in the street closure at the intersection of Brisbane Street, Ebley Street and Bronte Road.

The project will also include an upgrade of the existing landscaping in the area.

A sketch representing the proposed sculpture was distributed during the meeting.

2 Westfield Shopping Centre Development

Prue Mackay advised that Ian Johnstone of Westfield has indicated that a ruling from DUAP (Dept of Urban Affairs and Planning) on the development is not expected until mid to late November 2000. No DUAP meetings regarding the development have been held since the last Bondi Junction Precinct public meeting in August 2000.

DUAP’s next meeting to discuss the development is proposed for Friday 3 November 2000.

The Bondi Junction Precinct will hold a public meeting following any announcement from DUAP. The Precinct also confirmed that it is closely following this issue.

3 Law and Order

The Police representative was unable to attend the meeting and thus there was no report.

4 Bondi – Bronte Coast Walk

Presented by Prue Mackay

The Precinct has received from Waverley Council copies of the "Bondi to Bronte Coast Walk User Study", dated August 2000. The aim of the study was to determine the number of coast walk users; collect a body of information on patterns of use and user attitudes; and, to identify user priorities for improvements to be funded through Council’s Capital Works Program.

The study found that the walk was very well used by a large cross section of people and that there is a need for path widening along the walk to ease congestion.

Two copies of the study findings were circulated during the meeting for perusal.

Council will be looking at the need for an additional lane to serve joggers. Council is also considering extending the walk from Bondi to Vaucluse/Dover Heights.

 

6 Waverley Bus Depot Redevelopment

Brief update presented by Councillor Kerryn Sloan and Andrew Bartos

Kerryn Sloan advised that plans for the LEP and DCP went on exhibition on the day of the meeting, 1 November 2000 and will be displayed until 29 November 2000 at Council chambers and also at the Waverley library.

Andrew Bartos noted that the development application is for partial rezoning for office accommodation and widening of Oxford Street only.

As the plans only went on display on the day of the precinct meeting, the Precinct had not had time to assess them, but this issue would be discussed in detail at the next public precinct meeting.

7 Waverley Library Clock Tower

The Precinct has received a response from Keith Gordon of Council which states that the "suitability of the design of the clock has been questioned" and he is not prepared to have it re-installed until he can be certain that it will work properly, and that it will not create any future safety problems. These problems relate to the movement of the hands in windy conditions.

The meeting also raised the issue of graffiti on the clock tower.

Kerryn Sloan advised that this issue had been raised at the last Council meeting. Councillor Sloane also noted that Council should be made aware of any other incidents of graffiti so that they could be removed as soon as possible, so as not to attract further graffiti to the site. (It has been found that graffiti attracts others to add their graffiti).

Helen Freed questioned whether anti-graffiti paint had been used on the clocktower.

The Precinct will pursue this issue with Council.

  Enquiry into Inner City Councils and Super Councils

Presented by Paul Pearce, Mayor of Waverley Council

The State government has announced an enquiry into eight (8) inner city Councils, including Botany Bay, Leichhardt, Marrickville, Randwick, South Sydney, Sydney, Waverley and Woollahra. Paul Pearce attended a meeting with the other Council mayors, the minister’s office and the commissioner to discuss the purpose of the enquiry.

Paul confirmed the enquiry will address broad structural issues of Councils and boundaries, but is not an agenda for mass amalgamations.

However, the enquiry will address the possibility of some Council area amalgamations with the City of Sydney, perhaps areas such as Leichhardt. (Paul Pearce noted his concern that if some areas of an existing Council were amalgamated with the City of Sydney, then the viability of the remaining Council areas that had not amalgamated would have to be questioned).

The mayor also believes that the State government has a policy of no forced amalgamations, and that for an amalgamation to occur, a community interest would need to be established – he cannot see one in the Woollahra and Waverley instance. He further believes that it would not be in Waverley’s interest to amalgamate with Woollahra or Randwick Council.

The timetable for written submissions to the enquiry will be mid December 2000.

Public hearings, where verbal submissions will be taken will occur in February 2001.

The Commissioner is Professor Kevin Sproats of the University of Western Sydney.

The Commissioner will address such issues as:

  • Local government structures (eg. no. of councillors; governance issues) and whether current structures support the provision of efficient local government services and facilities.
  • Community needs, both now and in the future.

If current structures are found lacking, the commissioner will make recommendations for changes to enhance Councils’ capacity to meet the current and future needs of their communities.

Paul Pearce expects the inquiry will receive submissions from other government departments and interest groups such as DUAP, Tourism Task Force and BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association). Paul therefore strongly recommended that residents make submissions to balance the view of these lobby groups.

All findings will be published on a website and some hearings will be held outside the inner City.

The report to the government is due by the end of March 2001 and should offer both short term and long term options. The Commissioner however has no powers of implementation.

  Town Centre / Mall

A question regarding the ‘look" of the Bondi Junction mall was raised from the floor.

Paul Pearce advised that when the Westfield development was completed (allowing for commencement in 2001 and a 32 month construction period), the mall upgrade would commence.

He acknowledged that the Mall is currently "a mess" and that there was a need to look at planning controls to instigate upgrade works. Currently, the mall comprised some older buildings of character, although crumbling, on the northern Woollahra side and predominately semi-permanent or temporary structures on the southern, Waverley side.

The mayor suggested a design competition may be held for the Mall. Westfield will also provide a financial contribution towards the Mall’s upgrade.

The position of Town Centre Manager has been advertised but no suitable applicant was found. The position, which is a joint position between Woollahra and Waverley, will be re-advertised post-Olympics.

Prue Mackay stressed the need for any upgrade works to maintain good pedestrian flows throughout the Mall so that graffiti and other anti-social behaviour is discouraged. She also noted that currently few of the Mall businesses open after hours, and that for the Mall to work, it needs a focus or main purpose, such as food and restaurants.

A suggestion from the floor was given that the roller shutters on shop fronts be removed as they provide canvases for graffiti and add to the "Beirut" look of the Mall when closed.

The mayor confirmed that this issued has been raised with the Mall traders, and that there is a prohibition of roller shutters on the Waverley side of the Mall.

  Clementson Park Community Garden

Presented by Alma Jarvis

The Community garden is an area set aside in Clementson Park at the corner of Ebley and Newland Streets, which is run by a committee of 35 local volunteers who have been on-site for 17 months.

The aim of the garden is to provide a peaceful place within the dense environment of Bondi Junction where flowers, fruit and vegetables can grow. The garden uses permaculture principles and thus is organic.

The committee is always seeking new members and compost material, garden stakes, tools and other garden equipment are always required and welcomed.

Alma acknowledges the Council’s support and their contribution of composting material. Several other local businesses also support the garden.

Alma noted that the garden has been subject to several acts of vandalism including damage to the fishpond. However, their committee has not formally reported these incidents to the Police.

The meeting urged Alma and the committee to report all incidents so that the Police could include the garden in their regular security patrols of the area.

Alma also advised that the committee is happy for all passerbys to help themselves to the produce.

The meeting suggested that the committee install an honesty box for contributions for produce taken. A BBQ and cake stalls were also suggested as a means of fund raising.

The next Annual General Meeting for Community Garden is at 10am on Saturday 24 November 2000 at the garden.

A noticeboard is located at the garden for information and membership forms.

The Bondi Junction Precinct executive noted their support of the garden and proposes to support the Community garden to raise funds to repair the damaged pond.

9 Development Application – corner Ebley Street & Hollywood Avenue

(Video Ezy store)

Presented by Michael Neustein, representing the developer.

The development seeks to add two (2) new floors plus a lift plant room to the existing building. The two new floors will be set back from the existing façade, but will exceed existing floor space ratios and height restrictions for the site.

To date, submissions to Council on the development have identified the following issues of concern:

  • Increase in floor to space ratio (current allowable ratio is 3:1; developers are seeking to increase this to 3.67:1)
  • Increase height to up to 21.5 m (the current allowable height is 15m)
  • Parking & Traffic. Although the developers are not seeking to increase the on-site parking, there will be an increase in traffic generated by the development.
  • Wind Effects –the developer believes that the development will not exaggerate wind effects. The residents at the meeting did not support this view.

The issue of doors opening onto the upper two floor terraces was raised with residents concerned with the use of these terraces by the building occupants and the associated noise etc. generated by such use. M Neustein replied that the balustrades to the terraces were required by the Building Code and that the terraces would have little use by the building occupants. The residents did not accept this view.

The intended over-development of the site raises serious concerns with local residents. The mood of the meeting was strongly against any further development on the subject site. The Precinct executive confirmed that they would be pursuing this development application with Council with the aim of making sure any development adheres to the existing site bulk/height limits.

9 1A Hollywood Avenue

Several residents were present at the meeting to discuss this issue. However due to time constraints and the need for further information on this development, this issue will be discussed at length at the next Precinct public meeting.

The precinct will also seek to invite a representative for the developer to explain their proposed development at the next public meeting.

 

 

Meeting closed at 9.45 pm

 

 


This page maintained by Waverley Council Precinct Co-ordinator (Ext.8139)
last updated 19 April 2001.

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