Blue Bay residents are furious about plans to knock down the historic Toowoon Bay Gospel Chapel to make way for townhouses which they say is over-development and will encroach on their privacy and add to traffic problems.
The chapel has been a private residence since 2009 and was sold in October 2022 for $1.48M, being promoted as an excellent redevelopment site for three townhouses.
In February 2023 Central Coast Council received a development application (DA 349) to demolish the old chapel at 102 Bay Rd and build three double-storey townhouses.
The DA claims to be compliant with Council’s objectives for the medium density zone, planning strategies and controls applicable to the site yet there’s a “minor” encroachment at the rear setback, a shortfall in private open space at Unit 2, no on-site parking for visitors and over-shadowing of neighbouring properties.
Council has received many submissions objecting to the development because of lack of privacy from overlooking windows and/or balconies, over-shadowing, lack of on-site car parking, non-compliance with boundary controls and setbacks and the removal of an historical building.
Some residents asked to see the architect’s plans so more informed comment could be made but Council denied the request citing reasons of privacy.
Residents are now asking isn’t it the ratepayers whose privacy is at stake, not the developer’s?
People objecting to the townhouses say the development has been designed with no regard or respect for its impact on neighbouring properties.
“We don’t need more matchbox houses that overlook neighbours, that block sunlight, that clog up our streets, that look out of place from a design perspective in what is a beautiful village environment,” one submission said.
There are multiple examples of privacy issues or shading of all six neighbouring properties such as townhouse windows directly overlooking a pool/spa, a balcony directly opposite a neighbour’s main bedroom window, a direct line of sight into a neighbour’s living room and lack of privacy in yards and outdoor areas.
It says in the DA that “the neighbouring properties would not receive greater than three hours of sunlight to the private open spaces during the winter months … the shadows cast by the two-storey dwelling is unavoidable”.
There are concerns about the lack of on-site parking and the effect extra vehicles at the townhouses will have on busy Bay Rd and parking at the end close to the shops and restaurants which is already at a premium.
“On top of all this, to lose the Blue Bay church, which clearly should be heritage listed, is an absolute disgrace,” one submission said.
Residents are also concerned about the presence of asbestos in the old church building, which they say hasn’t been addressed in the waste management plan for its safe removal.
“To attempt to bulldoze it to put low quality, cramped housing on (the site) clearly serves no one other the developer,” one submission said.
Several of the submissions to Council said this was yet another example of a Sydney-based developer who almost certainly had no connection or interest in Blue Bay or the Central Coast, the residents, impact on neighbours, traffic or services but was simply out for financial gain.
They say this development does not belong in an area of mainly low-density single dwellings and would be better suited to the land Council planners have allocated to the west of Toowoon Bay village for medium density multi-dwelling development housing.
Sue Murray
we definitely don’t need any more houses on the Coast! There’s enough people already and the infrastructures remain the same!