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Press Articles: NST: Protest over development SMH: KK hits a hurdle SMH: Ku-ring-gai plan will swamp housing target NST: Heritage homes go under the hammer
MEDIA RELEASE 7 August, 2009 Planning expert needed to avoid Ugly Horror Storeys! Ku-ring-gai Residents Alliance (KRA) today calls on Ku-ring-gai Council to engage an independent legal /planning expert to review the council’s Draft Development Control Plan (Town Centres) 2009 before it is approved. The Development Control Plan (DCP) goes on exhibition for public comment today from the 7 August until 4 September 2009. Chris Drummer spokesperson for the KRA said ‘Residents are not only commenting on the size and bulk of newly built high rise in Ku-ring-gai, but they are concerned about the cheap ugliness and bland nature of some of the unimaginative buildings.’ ‘The style of these buildings was permitted by the previous Local Environmental Plan (LEP) 194 and DCP55 and we don’t want a repeat of more of the same inappropriate development in our heritage and environmentally sensitive residential areas” said Chris Drummer. An independent legal /planning expert can ensure that controls are in place in the new DCP to ensure that the architectural style, building style and design are consistent with the environment, heritage and neighbourhood character of Ku-ring-gai in contrast to the stark, ugly and in some cases cheaply finished current developments. If Sydney can produce the architecturally acclaimed Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House why these unnecessarily ugly buildings in Ku-ring-gai? questioned Drummer. “We formally request Council engage an independent legal /planning expert to thoroughly examine the Draft Development Control Plan (Town Centres) 2009 for any legal or planning flaws so as the document can be tight as possible in getting the best possible build and design out comes for Ku-ring-gai” Chris Drummer said today. The draft DCP provides controls to guide design and assessment of the Town Centres development proposals. The overriding legal planning instrument the Draft Local Environmental Plan (LEP) Town Centres 2008 was passed by the Minister’s Planning Panel on the 27 May at the Panel’s infamous meeting at the UTS Campus at Lindfield. The Draft LEP has now been sent to the Minister for Planning for gazettal which is expected when the DCP is approved. Chris Drummer said “Whilst residents have great concerns with the Draft LEP Town Centres and the shocking oversized building and apartments that will result, the DCP needs to be carefully written to ensure the best possible building design outcomes can be achieved. The previous DCP 55 as a planning control has turned out to be a disaster for Ku-ring-gai and despite calls for its review by community groups this has not occurred.” Drummer said. “We must avoid the same ‘horror storeys’ in the future”. “We encourage residents to write to Council with their comments before 4 September and to support our call for an independent legal/planning expert to review the DCP before it is passed and comes into effect.” Drummer said . About the Ku-ring-gai Residents Alliance (KRA) The KRA has been formed to oppose the over development of Ku-ring-gai and the undemocratic planning process- due to unfettered Ministerial power and the appointment of the Ku–ring-gai Planning Panel, who have ignored the concerns raised in 1,800 resident submissions. Members of the KRA Executive committee include solicitors, barristers, an IT Director and a number of journalists. The KRA liaises with existing Ku-ring-gai resident action groups and other resident action groups in NSW opposing adverse planning proposals in their jurisdictions. MEDIA RELEASE 3 July, 2009 New Action Group demands answers from both sides of Government! A new residents action group has been forged in the heat of a near riot of over 900 residents at the UTS on 27th May at which sham plans of the Government appointed Planning Panel were presented. The panel approved the plans under the cover of the ensuing melee in defiance of the publicly expressed outrage. Chris Drummer, President of the new group ‘Ku-ring-gai Residents Alliance’ (KRA) was incensed at the failure of due process and poor policy revealed at the meeting and called on residents to unite. ‘5,000 high rise units have been approved already in Ku-ring-gai with up to a further 15,000 units to be built once NSW Planning Minister Keneally approves the Town Centre Plans’. ‘Even though the Government’s total requirement for Ku-ring-gai is 10,000 new dwellings by 2031’ he said. ‘With these plans the number of dwellings in Ku-ring-gai will increase by 50% from its current 33,000 to over 50,000 and the population of Ku-ring-gai is set to increase from 100,000 to 150,000 with no timed staging of the development’ Drummer said. ‘Resulting extra traffic on roads will increase peak hour congestion and add to existing bottlenecks. Ku-ring-gai will become a car park.’ he said. ‘Some of the developments, such as at St Ives, are not even on public transport corridors, which is fundamental to the Government’s state- wide plans’. Mr Drummer said ‘urban consolidation is one thing, but urban vandalism is another’ Celebrity Radio and TV presenter Jonathan (Jono) Coleman another member of the KRA Executive Committee said ‘My family moved into the area after living in London for 16 years surrounded by tall buildings. We came back to experience the natural bushland, tree canopy and a cleaner, safer environment to bring up our children, which is part of the unique and valuable character of Ku-ring-gai. If we wanted to be surrounded by high-rise we would have moved to Chatswood. We live in a single storey house that is now about to be surrounded by 6 storey units. That is not planning it is just reckless pandering to developers who will build and move onto the next development with their profits. There are empty blocks of units up and down the Pacific Highway now in Ku-ring-gai-why build more?’ It’s time that they actually listened to the residents rather than just paying us lip service.’ ‘The new LEP Town Centres Plan proposes the large-scale demolition of six of Ku-ring-gai's key traditional village centres (St Ives, Pymble, Gordon, Turramurra, Lindfield and Roseville) and numerous surrounding homes – in effect the heart of Ku-ring-gai - to be replaced by massive high-rise tower developments, many spreading deep into surrounding residential streets. These will all be built without appropriate infrastructure to support the development. The tree canopy that gives Ku-ring-gai so much of its character and appeal will be sacrificed. The infrastructure, transport, traffic, environmental and heritage factors were detailed in major studies carried out by independent consultants, but have been ignored by the Government and Planning Panel’ Jono Coleman said ‘It is a travesty of democracy that the interests and rights of 100,000 residents of Ku-ring-gai and the rights of their children and grandchildren have been dictated by a handful of Macquarie St politicians and bureaucrats’ said Drummer ‘The destruction of our community, heritage, tree canopy and natural environment will be inevitable with the construction of so many completely inappropriate developments - just multi-coloured high density, high rise boxes. ’Hence our slogan -‘Not So High! in Ku-ring-gai.’ Drummer said ‘Residents need to understand that the new very visible high rise developments they currently see being built in the choked streets of Ku-ring-gai represent only about 25% of the planned development’. These units currently under construction have already been approved separately from the current Town Centre plans sitting on the Minister’s desk.
About the Ku-ring-gai Residents Alliance (KRA) The KRA has been formed to oppose the over development of Ku-ring-gai and the undemocratic planning process- due to unfettered Ministerial power and the appointment of the Ku–ring-gai Planning Panel, who have ignored the concerns raised in 1,800 resident submissions. Members of the KRA Executive committee include solicitors, barristers, an IT Director and a number of journalists. The KRA liaises with existing Ku-ring-gai resident action groups and other resident action groups in NSW opposing adverse planning proposals in their jurisdictions. Ku-ring-gai Residents Alliance |
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