No Lewisham Towers

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.

Should Marrickville Council have supported the motion?

• Yes
• No

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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

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.

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.

This motion seeks to have Council commission a Master Plan for the entire precinct between Old Canterbury Road and the Good Line. 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 public is welcome to attend meetings – 6.30pm, Tuesday 16 June at Marrickville Council Chambers, 2 Fisher Street Petersham.  See Map.

Notice of Motion

Master plan and zoning for the McGill Street Precinct

Councillor Phillips

Motion:

That Council commission a master plan for the McGill Street, Lewisham precinct.

That appropriate zoning, height limits, floor space ratio, and other development controls be placed on the McGill Street precinct to ensure urban renewal of the area that is complementary to the surrounding community and in accordance with the Marrickville Urban Strategy.

That this planning be conducted as a matter of urgency to ensure Marrickville Council’s vision for the McGill Street precinct is comprehensive and clear, and that any changes can be implemented during the current review of the Marrickville Local Environment Plan.

Background:

The McGill Street precinct was set to be master planned in conjunction with the St Peters Triangle as part of the current review of the Marrickville Local Environment Plan.  The McGill Street precinct master plan was suspended when a Part 3A application was submitted by a developer for a massive development at the northern end of the precinct.

In Council’s February submission to the Department of Planning, it notified that it was suspending its master planning of the precinct due to the Part 3A application.  This submission attached Council’s project brief and suggested: “this work should be carried out by the proponent as part of any consideration of the subject proposal as a Part 3A Major Project.”

The Greens consider that any master plan commissioned by a developer, with plans for a massive overdevelopment of part of the precinct, presents an inherent conflict of interest and will not result in the best outcome for the rest of the precinct, nor the surrounding community.

We believe that a master plan commissioned by Marrickville Council, rather than a private developer, will result in the best master plan for the area.

A master plan should be prepared as a matter of urgency so that a vision for the urban renewal of this precinct that complements the existing community, is clear and comprehensive to the public, the Department of Planning, the Minister for Planning, and potential developers.

The McGill Street precinct is recognised as an area of the Marrickville Local Government Area in need of a review of its zoning and development controls.  In their submission to the Marrickville Urban Strategy, residents of the precinct state:

“The Lewisham site presents an on-going and unmanageable conflict of land usage. The current zoning has been a constant challenge for all stakeholders; industry, residents and Marrickville Council.

Over the past decade, and particularly in the last five years, the conflicting land use in the site and particularly McGill St (the most active front-line interface between residents and industry) has caused considerable problems for residents and businesses alike.

Residents have lodged numerous complaints to Council regarding the detrimental impacts of the light industrial businesses with regards to noise, traffic, rubbish and the constant breaching of conditions of consent imposed on the various businesses. To date those complaints would number in the hundreds.”

The consideration of zoning for the McGill Street precinct and its potential for renewal should not be scuttled by the plans a greedy developer.  Appropriate zoning, height limits and floor space ratios should be applied to the McGill Street precinct in the current review of the Marrickville Local Environment Plan.