Written by Max Phillips on May 20th, 2009
Would you like to live next door to fourteen storey tower blocks? A huge overdevelopment has been proposed for Lewisham, at the corner of Old Canterbury Rd and Longport St.
View Lewisham Part 3A development map in a larger map
The development includes 14, 12 and 6 storey towers and a large supermarket mall with basement car parking. The developer has bypassed council and the local community and gone straight to the state government for approval under the controversial Part 3A law.
- Overdevelopment
- Traffic congestion and pollution
- Community disruption
- New precedents for building size for the Inner West
- Local shopping strips hurt – Petersham, Dulwich Hill, Summer Hill
- Interferes with the Cooks River to Iron Cove Greenway project
Read all about the developer’s plans on the PLANS PAGE.
If you want to oppose this development TAKE ACTION.
Tell us what you think – have YOUR SAY.
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Tags: Lewisham
Written by Max Phillips on November 7th, 2009
WHEN: 8pm Thursday 19 November 2009
WHERE: Summer Hill Community Centre, 131 Smith St, Summer Hill
WHAT: See Marrickville Council’s draft master plan for the McGill Street Lewisham precinct (site of the proposed Lewisham Towers).
- Local resident, Greg Frith will take you through Council’s draft master plan. Time will then be available for the local community to express their opinions.
- Local Councillors from Marrickville and Ashfield Councils will be available to hear your points of view and answer your questions.
- The draft master plan forms an alternative vision to the Lewisham Towers proposal of a supermarket mall and 14 storey apartment towers. It is important for the local community to engage in the process and express their opinion.
- This is also your chance to support the NO LEWISHAM TOWERS residents action group by joining up and making a donation.
You can view a copy of the plans here.
Map to community meeting venue:
View Larger Map
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Tags: Ashfield Council, Lewisham, Marrickville Council, Town Meeting
Written by Max Phillips on September 24th, 2009
The McGill Street master plan project has progressed to a point where the draft is ready for public comment.
If adopted by Marrickville Council, this plan will regulate building heights, densities, open space and other aspects of planning.
The Department of Planning has instructed the developer proposing the Lewisham Towers, Demian Developments, to take into account Council’s planning documents for the precinct. So this master plan will provide an alternative vision to the plans for the Lewisham Towers.
Marrickville Council is inviting the public to view the draft Master Plan on Sunday 27 September 2009 from 10.00am – 1.00pm on Level 3 of the Council’s Administration Building in Fisher Street, Petersham.
No Lewisham Towers encourages residents to view the plans and provide feedback to Council staff.
Marrickville Council has a webpage on the master plan. The draft master plan document is online as a PDF.
Map to Marrickville Council chambers:
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Written by Max Phillips on September 9th, 2009
Calling for Volunteers
As part of our efforts to garner greater awareness within the community, No Lewisham Towers has secured a stall at the Marrickville Festival on Sunday 27th September. Consequently, we are calling for volunteers to assist with manning of the stall.
The fair operates from 11am to 5pm, so we would need people to assist from 10:30am through to approx 5:30pm (to assist with set-up & pull-down). We intend to put people on a roster basis, so we endeavour that with enough volunteers, you should only be on the stall for a couple of hours.
Staffing the stall will involve handing out pamphlets, speaking to people about the development and, most importantly, getting people to sign pre-prepared letters to our local member, Carmel Tebbutt. Our aim for the day is 1000 letters, so we need all the help we can get.
If you can help, please email secretary@nolewishamtowers.org with details of your availability.
Thanks,
Andrew Pfann
Secretary
No Lewisham Towers
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Written by Max Phillips on August 9th, 2009
Now is the time to have you say about the kind of development you’d like to see on the Lewisham Towers site.
Marrickville Council’s master plan process has begun and community consultation for the McGill Street Precinct has opened.
The precinct is located in Lewisham and is bounded by Old Canterbury Road to the east and south, Hawthorne Canal and the Rozelle Goods Line to the west and Longport Street to the north.
The aim of the master plan is to advance the directions of the Marrickville Urban Strategy 2007 through the preparation of a plan which ensures that future development in the precinct is planned cohesively. The master plan will provide urban design and planning controls for the precinct that address the scale and density of development, local area traffic management, landscaping and public domain improvements and the mix of land uses.
The urban design firm Hassell Limited have been engaged to undertake the master plan which is anticipated to take four months to complete.
To inform the work of the consultants Council is seeking submissions from the community on what they see as the key issues regarding future redevelopment within the precinct. Comments received will be used in the development of a draft master plan which will be subject to further community review.
A copy of the project brief and supporting documentation including the Marrickville Urban Strategy 2007 and Marrickville Employment Land Study 2008 can be viewed on Council’s website at www.marrickville.nsw.com.au. Submissions marked ‘McGill Street Precinct Master Plan’ are invited and can be mailed to the General Manager, Marrickville Council, PO Box 14, Petersham NSW 2049; faxed to 9335 2029; or emailed tocouncil@marrickville.nsw.gov.au.
Submissions will be received until 5pm on 18 August 2009.
For enquiries phone Colette Goodwin, Executive Planner, Planning Projects on 9335 2188.
Posted in Lewisham | 1 Response »
Written by Max Phillips on July 28th, 2009
No Lewisham Towers campaign update.
Organising meeting – 8 July
About fifty people came to the meeting held at the Summer Hill Community Centre. We had an excellent discussion about campaign ideas and decided to form a residents committee.
Residents Action Committee – 22 July
The residents action committee held its first meeting last week. Andrew Pfann was elected as secretary and Richard Morrell was elected Treasurer. You can email Andrew on secretary@nolewishamtowers.org The committee is now looking into setting up a bank account and postal address. They will produce a leaflet in the near future and arrange campaign events. They will also seek a meeting with the local member, Carmel Tebbutt.
No Lewisham Towers Residents Action Group Committee
Master Plan update
Marrickville Council is proceeding with producing a master plan of the McGill Street, Lewisham precinct (area between Old Canterbury Road and the goods train line). The firm Hassel has been appointed to produce the master plan and has already started work. They hope to complete the plan within four months.
Community consultation will begin soon, with an advertisement placed in the local papers inviting comments on planning issues concerning the area. Later there will be an open day to inspect and comment on the draft, targeted land owner consultations and councillor briefings.
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Written by Max Phillips on June 27th, 2009
This week’s Glebe reports on the motions before Marrickville Council’s June meeting. 
MARRICKVILLE Council will not support the No Lewisham Towers campaign despite Ashfield and Leichhardt councils showing their support.
Last Tuesday, Marrickville Greens councillor Max Phillips moved a motion calling for the Planning Minister to refer the plan back to the council.
Residents are concerned that community consultation will be limited if the proposal is assessed as a part 3A application. The motion also called for Marrickville Council to clearly state its opposition by writing to local, state and federal members and promoting http://www.nolewishamtowers.org on the council’s website.
The motion was tied. Labor Mayor Sam Iskandar used his casting vote to defeat the motion, saying that community consultation would happen.
“The fact is, you like it or not, there is a law and you have to abide by laws,” he said, referring to part 3A.
Independent councillor Dimitrios Thanos raised concerns about community consultation.
“The community has a lot more weight here than when they go down to the planning minister,” he said.
Cr Phillips’ other motion calling for a masterplan of the McGill St precinct which covers the Lewisham towers site was passed unanimously. This means the planning minister “shall give consideration” to the masterplan when assessing the proposal.
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Tags: Lewisham, Marrickville Council, master plan
Written by Max Phillips on June 20th, 2009
An organising meeting for the No Lewisham Towers campaign as been scheduled
TIME: 7.30pm – Wednesday 8 July
VENUE: The Summer Hill Community Centre, 131 Smith Street Summer Hill.
This meeting is for residents and supporters to get together to organise the next steps in the campaign. So if you’re interested in getting involved please come down with your ideas.
Meeting location:
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Written by Max Phillips on June 18th, 2009
Council has commissioned a different vision for Lewisham
Two motions about the Lewisham Towers development went before Marrickville Council on Tuesday night.
The first motion was to have Marrickville Council commission a master plan for the entire precinct between Old Canterbury Road and the Goods Line in Lewisham. A master plan will provide an alternative vision for the urban renewal of the area, with appropriate height and density limits to complement the surrounding community, as well as provision for open space and traffic management.
The second motion confirmed Marrickville Councils official opposition to the Lewisham Towers development, called for it to be assessed by Council rather than by the Minister for Planning under Part 3A, and wrote to local MPs requesting their support for this position. A similar motion had been voted down by a combination of Labor and Independent Councillors in March.
Unfortunately, it was a busy council meeting, including the budget, and the motions were not debated until 10.30pm! Despite the hour, residents of Lewisham were present in the gallery and two residents spoke to the motions.
The motion for a master plan was supported unanimously. Labor and Independent Councillor Victor Macri moved amendments to the motion. These were incorporated as part of the motion.
This is excellent news and council staff have already started to put it into action. There will hopefully be scope for community input into the master plan project.
The second motion was tied 6 – 6 (5 Greens & Ind. Thanos for the motion – 4 Labor & Ind. Hanna & Macri against). Labor Mayor Sam Iskandar used his casting vote to defeat the motion.
You can view the minutes from this meeting here.
Thank you to all the residents who attended and spoke at the meeting.
The McGill Street Precinct, Lewisham
View McGill Street Precinct in a larger map
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Tags: Lewisham, Marrickville Council, master plan
Written by Max Phillips on June 17th, 2009
15 Jun 09 by Sam Worrad
The campaign against the 14-storey Lewisham towers development on Old Canterbury Rd continues to gain momentum, though Marrickville Labor claims it is at the centre of a scare campaign.
Labor councillor Mary O’Sullivan said the Greens were “doing their best to portray local and state Labor as beholden to developer donations, but it is not true”.
“We are as critical as anybody of the proposal because it is singularly inappropriate for the area, and where we differ is how the proposal should be assessed,” she said.
Marrickville Labor Mayor Sam Iskandar agreed scare tactics had been used.
“It is wrong to say that there is a monster coming and that it is inevitable,” he said.
“I will say again, we don’t support it and we never supported it.”
At tonight’s Marrickville Council meeting, the Greens will move two motions – one calling for the council to commission a master plan for the precinct between Old Canterbury Rd and the goods railway line in Lewisham and a second motion calling for the development to be assessed by the council and not the Planning Minister.
The second motion was voted down by a combination of Labor and independent councillors in March.
“If the councillors are listening to the community and know the depth of feeling about this issue, I would hope the motions can get through,” Greens councillor Max Phillips said.
There has been more than 650 hits on the http://www.nolewishamtowers.org website, where Marrickville’s Greens and Independent councillors Dimitrios Thanos and Morris Hanna have registered their opposition to the towers.
Read this story on the Inner West Courier’s website.
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Tags: Lewisham, Marrickville Council, master plan, Over Development
Written by Max Phillips on June 16th, 2009
Marrickville Council will vote on two motions relating to the Lewisham Towers development at tonight’s Council meeting.
The first motion expresses Marrickville Council’s opposition to the Lewisham Towers development and the use of Part 3A to bypass the Council and have it assessed by the state government.
The second motion calls for a master plan of the Lewisham precinct to ensure that an alternative vision is prepared for the area and that it be incorporated into the review of Marrickville’s Local Environment Plan (master zoning and development controls).
It would be great for supporters of the campaign to come to the Council meeting it is at 6.30pm, today (Tuesday 16 June) at Marrickville Council Chambers, 2 Fisher Street Petersham. See Map. If you would like to address the Council on these motions, you can apply here.
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Tags: Lewisham, Marrickville Council, master plan
