10 December 2010
Oakstand Property Group have been unsuccessful in obtaining an approval for the redevelopment of the Coogee Bay Hotel. Even after significantly amending their original proposal, including a reduction of building height from 15 storeys to 9 storeys, the two alternative schemes submitted by Oakstand were not enough to obtain a Part 3A approval.
The process used to kill-off Ashingtons Double Bay development was repeated, with an expert review led by the NSW Government Architect. The Government Architect found that both the two alternative proposals were excessive in terms of height, bulk and scale. The Department of Planning say that any future development of the site should be limited to 3-4 storeys along Coogee Bay Rd and Arden St and up to 5 storeys in the south-western part of the site. The government media release is here. The Government Architects review here.
Among the guiding principles articulated for the site were the following matters:
- built form should reinforce the valley and its topography;
- low buildings in the valley floor allow view sharing;
- height should be consistent with the prevailing built form;
- buildings should be built to the street or continue the established street.
In terms of retail development, the embedded anti-competitive thinking of the planning system continues with the report saying that the size of the supermarket should take account of local demand …there is already a small supermarket nearby.
The NSW Opposition has welcomed the announcement on the Coogee Bay Hotel but called for future development applications to be dealt with by the local community.