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STOP PRESS : EXTENSION GRANTED TILL 15 SEPTEMBER
Members of the TAG team have been reviewing some of the documentation of this NEW development and are encouraging community members to submit any concerns they may have.Whilst this is a new development many of the issues from the previous DA may still be relevant and your previous submission may only need a little tweaking.
5-storey DA resubmitted for Cary St./Arnott St./Victory Pde Block
The developer Toronto Investments No. 1 Pty Ltd has submitted a new DA for a $36 million mixed-use complex for the long-vacant block at 114-120 Cary St between McDonalds and Victory Parade and backing onto Arnott Street behind the Yacht Club.
According to ASIC, Toronto Investments is a $1 company fully owned by Coveston Developments Pty Ltd and is represented as sole Director and Secretary by Mr. Nicholas Vranas of Summer Hill, Sydney.
In some minor respects it is an improvement over the previous DA that was refused by the Hunter & Central Coast Regional Planning Panel in December 2019 and then withdrawn by the applicant when appealing against the Hunter & Central Coast Regional Planning Panel, entitling the developer to then re-submit the application.
Despite reduction from 6 to 5 stories, the proposed maximum height along Cary Street is much the same (20.34m versus 20.6m). The number of units is reduced from 120 to 108 (fewer one-bedroom units) and commercial space from 2,872 to 929 sq. m. There is also larger communal rooftop space. There is now a detailed ecology report as well as other reports.
Nevertheless, in its main features, the proposal is still non-compliant with the town planning instruments. It is still higher than the 4-stories allowable under the Toronto Town Centre Area Plan. Although visual impact diagrams and photos have been blurred, dulled and redacted for public consumption on the Application tracking website. It is apparent that the developer wants to sell profitable penthouse apartments with lake views, which means they will also be intrusive when seen from the foreshore and lake.
The complex also has a heavy footprint, occupying almost the entire site. As aerial views show, it will become a massive block between the Toronto Foreshore and the Toronto Wetlands and Fassifern corridor. When Council is at last making progress with the Foreshore Masterplan and seeking to develop active cycling, walking and leisure activity, this makes no strategic sense. Toronto is bulging and needs more open space, not narrowing the Greenway into a bookended laneway.
The 2-level basement carpark will be a massive and disruptive excavation. From submitted reports, there appears to be some uncertainty about predicted changes on water levels in the Toronto wetlands. Its construction will certainly bring a lot more big trucks into an already congested area.
Residents are already particularly concerned about traffic. Here the new DA offers no relief but the proponent’s consultants maintain, on the basis of a one-day traffic count, that the peak hour flow is satisfactory and that the extra traffic can be accommodated at the Bay Street lights and without impact on safety around the Public School. Heavy vehicle access will no longer be allowed, but of course that means more medium-size truck movements.
All round, there is plenty of scope for a scaled-back development more in harmony with this strategic part of our townscape. Since the developer would have bought the consolidated 6183 sq. m. site in March 2016 at well below present market value so it would seem that fitting in with the community expectations would be possible.
DA/1651/2022 can be viewed on the Council website at https://property.lakemac.com.au/ePathway/Production/Web/GeneralEnquiry/EnquiryDetailView.aspx?Id=1618723. Scroll down to access the many documents relating to the DA. The Architectural Plan gives a good overview.
The submission period for community feedback on the DA has been extended by one week to Tuesday 23 August, but will close before you receive this edition of The Chronicle in your letterbox.
Address your submission to
Subject: DA/1651/2022 - 114-120 Cary St
council@lakemac.nsw.gov.au
and/or
Chief Executive Officer
Lake Macquarie City Council
Box 1906
HRMC NSW 2310
Here's a list of councillors too
Additional issues
Toronto Wetlands 
Toronto Wetlands: A large part of the proposed development site is located within land designated as being “in proximity to a coastal wetland”. Clause 2.8 of the SEPP (Resilience and Hazards) 2021 provides that the consent authority must be satisfied that the proposed development will not significantly impact on the adjoining wetland. The accompanying report by CMW Geosciences fails to give this confidence.
Traffic
The additional vehicles which would access the Arnott Street, Bay Street and Renwick St areas from the proposed development would compound an already dangerous situation, with 200 extra cars from the proposed development regularly entering and exiting their parking facilities.
Additionally the vehicles of clients to the proposed business premises on the ground floor, the service vehicles and supply vehicles arriving and departing regularly – all would add a significant risk to safety and add traffic congestion.
Peak times for egress and ingress of the building would correspond with the peak times for school arrivals and departures and also with busy times at McDonalds.
A Comparison of the 2022 DA and the 2018 DA
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