Archive for the DAs Category

What’s Going on With all the Work Being Done at The Establishment site ?

A substantial temporary road has been constructed parallel to Gundaroo Drive behind the YMCA Early Childhood Centre (to be restored and rehabilitated by August 2022), an access road into the site has been built at the roundabout at the intersection of Gundaroo Drive and Gozzard Street and there’s major excavation going on. All of this, despite there being no decision on the current Development Application (DA) for the site! It’s hard not to assume the developer, Geocon, is so confident the DA will be approved they are pushing ahead … which is not a good look for the ACT government agencies responsible for approving the DA and the other works going on.

Geocon has already chopped down a tree on the site without permission and appears to have gone beyond the limits of the TCCS issued licence for limited development of the unleased Territory Land adjacent to the child care centre. The photos provide evidence of unauthorised, substantial and irreversible development and excavation works on the building site proper.

Temporary carpark/road running SW and parallel to Gundaroo Dv. There are two disabled and at best six other carparks. This road is not open yet and still fenced off.

Significant excavation works (looking across site to Gozzard St).

Significant site development, excavation and drilling/pile driving equipment (looking north to Gundaroo Dr).

Site boundary extends to road edge with excavation appearing to extend past block boundary up to footpath (looking south down Gozzard St).

A number of residents have contacted the GCC with similar concerns, and the GCC has also spoken with the YMCA who are struggling to manage the disruption caused by the vibration and dust created by they excavation and other work. The email response the GCC received from the Environment Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate (EPSDD) has been:

“The reconsideration of the S197 application for DA201732666 is still underway.

In regard to the works underway adjacent to Gundaroo Drive, a licence was issued by TCCS to Geocon to permit the use of this area of unleased Territory Land for a temporary road access, parking area and an outdoor play space for use by the YWCA childcare centre during the construction of the adjacent development.  This licence commenced on 18 March 2021 and will expire on 1 August 2022. I understand the access road will be on the same alignment of the old Gundaroo Road, to minimise disturbance to the trees.”

The “reconsideration” mentioned above is the third attempt to get a development application approved for ths site.

The first DA was lodged by Empire Global in 2017 when the development was known as Air Towers. Despite broad community and GCC opposition this DA was approved in 2018.  You can read more about the GCC’s concerns in these articles:

• Air Towers Development Application  (Published 7 November 2017, Updated 26 November 2017)
• Air Towers Development Application Update (Published 5 May 2018)

The Notice of Decision for this original DA was very subjective and raised numerous further concerns about the DA approval process as detailed in this article.

The second DA for the site was lodged in May 2020 by Geocon (who had entered into an agreement with Empire Global) and sought to make a number of relatively minor amendments to the approved DA. The GCC again strongly opposed this amended DA, and in a much more rigourous assessment by the planning authority, the amended DA was rejected:

• Amended DA for Establishment High-Rise (formerly Air Towers) (Published 20 May 2020)
• GCC Representation for Amended DA
• Amended DA for The Establishment Refused (Published 18 August 2020)

The third DA attempt, was a request by Geocon in June 2020 to “reconsider” the decision to reject the amended DA, allowed under Section 197 (S197) of the Planning Act. Again, the GCC opposed this DA

• GCC Representation for Reconsidered DA

noting in particular that:

“The documentation provided with the reconsideration contains numerous changes to the amended DA and/or original DA and reads as a further amendment and does not appear to challenge the validity of the Notice of Decision for the Amended DA.”

Further background on how the Gungahlin “Office Park” turned into residential towers can be found in this article:

• Getting Development Right for the Town Centre – The Gungahlin Residential Towers Story (Published 27 November 2016)

The Development Application (DA) for the Kenny High School is open for public comment until 1 July 2021. The DA is for the

“Construction of a new high school in the future suburb of Kenny. The development is for a two storey educational facility, single storey gym, landscaping, outdoor learning areas, playing fields, external courts, bicycle storage, waste centre, fencing, parking, driveway, signage, offsite and associated works.”

You can view all the details of the DA (a total of 72MB) and or provide feedback through a representation to the ACT Government’s Planning Directorate.

Some additional details from the “Statement Against Criteria”  (most of the typos are in the document):

Over the last ten years there has been significant population growth in Gungahlin through urban intensification within the Town Centre and Flemington Road corridor, as well as the establishment of several new suburbs. The resulting forecast is that by 2023 the existing school facilities within Gungahlin will reach capacity.

In order to address the demographic changes in Gungahlin, ACT Education Directorate (EDU) has undertaken several interventions from installing temporary transportable structures and building new learning communities within existing schools, to purpose—built schools in new suburbs. This project will deliver a second high school in East Gungahlin as part of this strategy in delivering high quality school facilities to the Territory.

When completed East Gungahlin High School is to accommodate in Permanent construction 800 students and up to 90 teaching and ancillary staff. At peak enrolment, the School is to accommodate up to 1000 students, with the additional capacity achieved through the Provision of temporary accommodation.

In the wider context the site is located in the east of Gungahlin, having good vehicle connectivity via Well Drive to arterial roads of Flemington Road and Horse Park Drive to connect to the Harrison School 7-10 catchment area which includes the suburbs of Forde, Throsby, Gungahlin, Harrison, Mitchell and Franklin.

Although located on edge of the new suburb of Kenny, the proposed scope of works for the Estate Development Plan of Site includes pedestrian access to the light rail corridor, connecting to the Town Centre.

There is Potential to have good pedestrian and cycle pathway to the adjacent suburbs of Harrisons, Franklin and Kenny, to promote safe travel as well as after hours community use of the school facilities

This development application is to be read in association with the New Kenny Road DA and Well Station Drive Upgrade, which include provision for bus sit-downs, emergency vehicle access, signalised intersection and pedestrian footpaths.

The School site Estate Development Plan has provisions for incoming services to the site; water ties, sewer tie, stormwater,gas tie, Telstra, NBN and government fibre and substation.

As part of the preparation of a Development Application for a Commercial Accommodation Development on Gungahlin Block 3 Section 227, GlavCorp No 5 Pty limited is undertaking a program of community consultation to engage with the neighbouring community and key stakeholders.

GlavCorp No 5 Pty limited invites interested members of the community to attend a virtual information drop-in session to discuss and provide comments on its proposal for the site prior to the submission of a Development Application.

The virtual information session will be held on Thursday the 2nd of July from 5:30pm to 7pm.

To register for the information session, send your name, surname and email address to admin@canberratownplanning.com.au.

The link to the meeting will be sent to you by the 30th of June 2020. On the day, use the link and follow the prompts to the meeting.

For further information and to provide feedback on the proposed design, please visit http://ctpprojectpages.wixsite.com/gungahlin or contact Canberra Town Planning at admin@canberratownplanning.com.au or (02) 6262 5091.

UPDATE 18 August 2020 – The amended DA has been REFUSED.

An amended Development Application (DA) for the mixed use high-rise residential now known as The Establishment (formerly Air Towers) is currently open for public comment until 9 June 2020 (Block6, Section 224,  Gungahlin).

If you want to express your opposition to this DA, read on!

The GCC opposed the original DA when it was submitted in November 2017, but despite 118 representations being made, the DA was approved in September 2018. The Notice of Decision which justifies this decision, and the 3 corrections to this decision that were subsequently issued, can be found here.

The GCC remains opposed to this development for the following (original) reasons:

• The height and scale are inappropriate for the location (across the road from 2 storey residences, adjacent to a single storey child care centre)
• It overshadows and overlooks the YMCA child care centre and adjacent residences
• There has been strong and consistent community opposition to more residential development in the town centre and high-rise developments over 10 stories, based on community surveys, and other feedback
• It will adversally impact traffic flow
• It consumes potential commercial (office) space in town centre

The GCC is also opposed to the amended DA for these additional reasons:

• The original Notice of Decision was largely dismissive of a number of concerns (outlined below) that are not addressed in the new DA
• The oversight concerns for the YMCA child care centre have not been addressed (arguably have worsened), and the proposed traffic arrangements are likely to force its closure because of the risk of an accident (also outlined below)

If you want to express your opposition to this DA you must lodge a “representation” online as follows:

1. [optional] Review the Amended DA Documention and Plans. This is a massive amount of material (over 82MB). Document #81 – SUPP-201732666-S197D-AMENDMENTS-01.pdf – one of the Supporting Documents, summarises the changes.
2. Click on Click Here to Lodge a Representation
   1. Enter your details (name, email, phone) on the first screen (“Requestor Details”)
   2. Enter the site details on the next screen (“Development Details”)
      • The DA number is 201732666
      • Suburb GUNGAHLIN
      • Section 224
      • Block 6 (The DA listing says block 4 … Block 6 was created by merging blocks 4 & 5 … both should work)
   3. Enter your feedback on the third (and last screen) (“Representation”) . You can use your own words, or copy and paste any of the material provided above or below, or upload other documents to support your point of view.
   4. Click on SUBMIT

Original Reasons (Updated)

Additional details can be found on the GCC website UPDATED: Air Towers Development Application (some of which is now dated of course).

• The 15 storey height does not align with community expectations for building heights in the Gungahlin Town Centre.
• The GCC’s Have Your Say surveys conducted in 2014 and 2019 showed a strong preference for buildings in the town centre of 10 stories or less (2014: 80% of respondents) and for no further residential developmnent in the town centre (2019: 57% of respondents.
• The buldings will overshadow and overlook the YMCA Early Learning Centres; as well as nearby residential areas, removing winter sun and privacy;
• The impact to traffic in the surrounding areas arising from an additional 290 apartments;
• The continued development of an excessive number of residential apartments at the expense of any other potential commercial office development.
• A lack of consideration about infrastructure to support the increasing number of residents in this section of Gungahlin. For example schools, green spaces, pedestrian access etc.

Concerns Regarding the Notice of Decision

The GCC would like to highlight the following additional concerns and aspects of the original Notice of Decision (2018) that the GCC believes should be adressed in the amended DA (2020). Note that there were numerous (39) conditions attached to the decision, some of which have been corrected.

• “Any future applications to amend this development proposal will require assessment involving greater scrutiny” (Condition E9, p. 9)
• Changes were made to the original DA (2018) by the proponent after it’s submission (from 18 stories to 16). These were not publicly notified because “the authority considered the amended design will reduce the potential impacts of the bulding height and mass, and that the revised proposal will decrease the potential environmental impact” (p. 10). These changes are not considered by the GCC to be adequate as the development is still very significant in scale and will have signiifcant environmental impact.
• The privary concerns of the YMCA child care centre are claimed to be addressed by requiring screening on the Western windows of the first four floors of the development, but this hardly seems adequate when 15 storeys of units (over 100 in total) will face the child care centre. The decisions suggests that the “interface distance and vistas enjoyed by residents will offer for protection for the privacy of the children” (p. 11)
• Further, any requirements to comply with the United Nations Convention of the Rights of Child regardign privacy are dismissed as the development “is not unlawful because the development meets the requirements, including the requirements related to privacy, of the Terriorry Plan and the Planning and Development Act (p. 11)
• Regarding overshadowing, the decision simply indicates the “overshadowing impact is reduced from the orginal proposal” (p. 11) yet the impacts are still very significant as the childcare centre playground will be overshadowed until 10:30am, and that the overshadowing of existing residential units is “inveitable” (p. 11) (it’s obviously only inevitable if the development is built).
• The ACT Conservator of Flora anf Fauna could not support the proposal on the basis that it proposed to remove a high quality regulated tree on the development site” (p. 12). The authority indicates this advice was “considered” yet the DA was approved.
• In the final asessement the authority echoes the arguments of the proponents in very subjective terms, inconsistent with community views (p. 12)
  • “There are existing developments and developnments to be constructed within the surrounding area of varying height, mass and scale”
  • “The height and scale of the development is compatible with the locality”
  • “The setback … and transition … is considered an acceptable outcome”
• The Notice of Decision has been corrected three times since its release (mostly applying to the conditions)
  • 24 October 2018
  • 14 March 2019
  • 22 August 2019

Note: A DA Notice of Decision can only be formerly challenged within 28 days of it’s release.

Additional Concerns Relating to YMCA Child Care Centre

The YMCA Early Learning Centre (ELC) has identified the following concerns with the development and provided the text below:

Example text 

This is my formal objection to the amended Development Application of Geocon and Empire Global relating to the land at Block 4, Section 224, Gungahlin.

The amendment:

• Increases the concerns raised against the original Development Application around the scale, density and composition of the proposed development, and how incompatible it is with the established local area, for example it is just a few meters from the 2 story homes on Gozzard St. This means residents and their children will be across the road from the commercial tenancies that the amendment has moved to the ground floor which could include a bar and restaurant.  This is very concerning due to the increase in noise and reduction to the amenity and safety to the established residents and area.
• It also increases the safety risks to child and adult pedestrians moving around the development and ELC due to the shared driveway which allows virtually no space between the two-way traffic and users of the ELC car parks, and provides no footpath for people to move safely around the new residents ground floor carpark that the amendment has proposed. This is particularly concerning because of the large number of disabled car parking spots in this car park, whose drivers wishing to walk anywhere including to the town centre and tram, will need to do so in the path of significant entering and exiting traffic and cars pulling in and out of the car parks in the residents car park and the ELCs car parks. Any accidents could be witnessed by children in the playground and being picked-up and dropped-off which could result in significant trauma
• The amendment also reduces the privacy afforded the children in the ELC from the development, with windows in the design having no treatment and looking directly into outdoor and indoor play spaces, rest areas and nappy change areas. This creates a significant risk to the privacy and safety of children and is in contravention of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Additionally, the previous notice of decision stated levels 1 to 4 of the development must have ‘no visibility’ into the ELC which this amendment fails to meet.
• The amendment means more residents and cars will be moving around the development and area.  The traffic report fails to address the impact of possibly over 300 cars leaving and returning to the development in the morning and evening, and parents dropping off and picking up their children (up to 84 children each day) at the ELC, on both the driveway as well as Swain St, Gozzard St and Gundaroo Rd. It states it expects most residents to use public transport so only 98 cars would be using the driveway in peak time. This is highly unrealistic, especially with the research done by GCC about the large number of people who drive in and out of Gungahlin for their jobs.The actual driveway entrance to the ELC and development is narrow and currently is rarely used as a two way entry and exit. Instead cars often que along Swain St waiting until they can enter through the middle of the driveway. The traffic report fails to address this and how having up to 300 residents exiting could make it impossible for parents of the ELC to access the driveway let alone safely park, do drop off or pick up, and then reverse and exit again.All of these streets and roads are narrow and already heavily congested. The local residents are very concerned about this congestion and how they will be able to retain quiet enjoyment of their properties with the noise, movement and increase traffic to contend with when coming and going from their homes. This is exacerbated by all the developments that have been completed, or are nearly completed on Swain St and in the local area. In addition, any traffic incidents resulting from this increased congestion, will have significant impact on the development’s residents, ELC families and local residents as the narrow driveway and roads could be easily blocked and people will not be able to get to work or their other destinations.
• The ELC has been running for a number of years and is a valued part of the local community. It seems unfair that their children and staff can be so badly impacted by a new development that the community has fought so hard against, and that everyone will lose their quiet enjoyment of their site and home.

I strenuously object to the amendment to the DA in its current form and think the addition of more units and car parks and the façade changes are entirely inappropriate and will negatively affect the ELC and the local community.

End of example text

Perhaps the question the GCC gets asked the most is “what’s happening with the Gungahlin cinema ?”

Although the development was approved way back March, 2017 there has been no sign of construction starting. ABC Radio reported earlier this week that it’s been held up by legal action … and here are some details prepared by the ABC:

Gungahlin residents were promised a cinema, and it is coming… eventually.

The block of the land is there however there’s a legal dispute currently in the Supreme Court. An injunction was put on the developers by a cinema operator, United Cinemas, and any development on the land has been blocked ever since.

Here’s the simplest way to explain the argument: United Cinemas allege they had an agreement with someone acting on behalf of the developers (Gungahlin Lifestyle), who then opted to go with another cinema operator instead. The developers say that man wasn’t acting on their behalf.

The case will be in court next month, where hopefully there’s more clarity around what’s happening.

Please remember that this matter is within the Supreme Court at the moment.

For those who are interested in a more comprehensive explanation and more background, here is a public document about the case from 2016.

http://courts.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/1020024/United-Cinemas-.pdf

Within the next month we should know more …

The GCC has been concerned about the impact of the large number of high-rise residential mixed use towers at the Western edge of the Gungahlin Town Centre (Precinct 2b), since 2016. Our concerns about traffic density, reduction of solar access, lack of green space for a much larger population than expected in this location, and lack of cycling/walking access to/from/through the precinct are detailed in Gunsmoke 143 and Gunsmoke 144 .

We had particular concerns about the Air Towers development because of it’s size and location, as it is adjacent to one and two story residences and businesses on (effectively) three sides, at the corner of Gozzard Street and Gundaroo Drive. The Development Application (DA) for this two tower development, one of 18 storeys tapering to 12 storeys, and one of 8 storeys, closed in November, 2017 and was strongly opposed by the majority of the Gungahlin community and the GCC.

The current status is that:

• 118 representations (ie. submissions) were made in response to the DA
• No decision has yet been made on the DA
• The proponent has submitted an amendment to the proposal, following discussion with the planning and land authority
• It is understood the amendment includes a reduction in the maximum height (to 15 storeys) and the scale of the proposal
• The government (ESPDD) have chosen not to publicly notify this change, as the “amendment provides a reduction in impact and no additional issues would be anticipated to be identified”. The GCC does not agree with this position as questions still remain about what portions of the  two towers that make up the development are what height in what location.
• It is not known how long it will take to assess the amended DA proposal
• The GCC remain opposed to the DA, even in it’s amended form (although without having any details it’s hard to take an informed position, eg. regarding any tapering)
• The GCC is particularly concerned that a development of this scale is in stark conflict to the proposed changes to the Gungahlin Town Centre precinct code presented at the GCC meeting in April, 2018 as an outcome from the Town Centre Planning Refresh (which recommended a maximum height of 8 storeys along Gozzard Street).

The GCC remains actively engaged with ESPDD on this issue, and appreciate the information they have shared with us. We have, however,  expressed our concerns regarding the transparency of the process, given that this information has had to be requested rather it being provided, particularly given the large number of representations.

Original DA Proposal

As part of the ACT Government’s Public Housing Renewal project, and consistent with the ACT’s long history of distributing public housing throughout the community, a number of public housing projects in Gungahlin have been recently completed in Amaroo, Moncrieff, and Nicholls, and commenced in Taylor and Throsby. Details can be found here.

Planning approval has been completed for two new public housing projects in the Gungahlin Town Centre.  Some details for these developments are shown below

Block 1 Section 248 – Corner of Kate Crace, Ernest Cavanagh and Anthony Rolfe

Block 4 Section 249 – Corner of Manning Clark and Valley Way

UPDATED 26/11/2017 – Responses to the Development Application must be lodged before 29 November 2017 (details below)

A Development Application (DA) has been lodged for two new apartment towers on the corner of Gundaroo Drive and Gozzard Street. If approved, these towers will stand up to 18 storeys or 58 metres tall. The Gungahlin Community Council has a number of serious concerns about the proposal including:

• The height of 58 metres is more than double the 23 metres height limit specified in the planning rules, and does not align with community expectations for building heights in the Gungahlin Town Centre;
• The fact that previous developments were able to exploit planning loopholes to obtain height exemptions does not justify the building of yet another high rise tower;
• At 18 storeys, the towers will overshadow and overlook the YMCA, Yerrabi Ponds, and Lavender Lane Early Learning Centres; as well as nearby residential areas, removing winter sun and privacy;
• The survey conducted by the proponents, referenced in the DA’s statement against criteria, was primary an online competition to name the development with a cash prize for the winner. Any data collected through this online competition regarding entrant/competitors views on the development are, at the very least, likely to be skewed towards support for the project. The GCC does not believe the proponent’s survey data accurately reflects the views of the Gungahlin community overall;
• Following community concern about the exploitation of planning loopholes, the ACT Government initiated the Gungahlin Town Centre Planning Refresh to tighten the planning rules and address these loopholes. The preliminary findings of the Refresh, presented at the GCC public meeting on September 13, 2017 identified community support for “building heights up to 10 storeys for newly released blocks (Gungahlin East) [and] lower building heights in the retail core and at the edges of the town centre”. The Air Towers DA is not consistent with these findings;
• The GCC’s Have Your Say survey conducted in 2014 showed a strong preference (80% of respondents) for buildings in the town centre of 10 stories or less;
• The impact to traffic in the surrounding areas arising from an additional 296 apartments;
• The GCC acknowledges the DA proponents have made substantial changes to the proposal originally presented to the GCC in November, 2016, eg. From 26/26/8 stories to 18/12/8 stories, but the development remains an extremely large development and it is adjacent on three sides to one and two storey developments, much of which is residential. The only development larger than this on the precinct is Infinity Towers which does not have the same neighbour issues;
• The proponents argue that the development “steps down” to neighbour properties on the site, but this ignores the overall scale of the development within the precinct, and the very high frontage presented to the YMCA site, and to the precinct’s view from the West. Other developments in the precinct have “stepped down” from the high point established by Infinity Towers, towards the residential areas – the proposed development is clearly inconsistent with this approach in the context of the other proposed and existing developments, ie. Looking from Yerrabi Pond towards the east, the height in stories of the developments are (from right to left) 20, 22, 16 (Infinity), 14, 7 (Lumi), 1, (YMCA), and then 18/12/8 (Air Towers). This shows how inappropriate the proposed development is for this location (noting that this is not to scale horizontally);
  
• The continued development of an excessive number of apartments. What Gungahlin requires is more office space so that Gungahlin residents do not need to commute out of Gungahlin every day to work.
• A lack of consideration about infrastructure to support the increasing number of residents in this section of Gungahlin. For example schools, green spaces, pedestrian access etc.

We are encouraging Gungahlin residents to make sure your views on the development are heard. You can do this very quickly on-line by clicking on this link (or entering it into your browser):

https://form.act.gov.au/smartforms/landing.htm?formCode=1251 .

You can copy and paste the arguments above or add your own views if you wish. You will just need the following information to fill out the form:

• Development Application: 201732666
• Suburb: Gungahlin
• Block: 4
• Section: 224

Further details on the proposed development can be found here.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact the Gungahlin Community Council via Facebook, our webpage or email secretary@gcc.asn.au