The owners of a block at 14 York St, Point Frederick, have applied for a review of a refusal by the Central Coast Local Planning Panel to allow a 22-room boarding house to be erected on the site.
The application calls for a four-five-storey building containing 22 boarding rooms, a manager’s residence, communal room and open space area to be constructed on the site.
The Panel rejected the application on May 12 but the applicant says slightly revised plans and extra information provided should justify approval of the development.
Changes made to the original proposal include: a brick podium to complement and provide consistency of materials with neighbouring lots; disconnection of balconies to reduce mass form, create articulation and variation to the front and rear elevations; reduction of roof form to alleviate overshadowing concerns and reduce massing; feature screening and a planted trellis to the breezeway to address privacy concerns; and angled screening on western balconies.
The applicant says the revised proposal has an “acceptable visual fit and environmental impact and responds appropriately to the site’s opportunities and constraints”.
One of the reasons given by the Panel for refusal was that the proposal is an overdevelopment of the site but the applicant says it is consistent with the objectives of the aims of the Gosford City Centre SEPP 2018.
These include promoting the economic and social revitalisation of Gosford City Centre; strengthening its regional position while creating a highly liveable urban space; protecting and enhancing the vitality, identity and diversity of the city centre; and promoting employment, residential, recreational and tourism opportunities.
The applicant says the proposal is in line with the aims of its R1 zoning including: providing for the housing needs of the community; providing for a variety of housing types and densities; enabling other land uses that provide facilities or services to meet the day to day needs of residents; ensuring that development is compatible with the desired future character of the zone; and promoting best practice in the design of multi dwelling housing and other similar types of development.
“The proposal is consistent with the objectives of the zone by virtue of the design of the proposal and compliance with the relevant Gosford City Centre DCP 2018 clauses and standards,” supporting documents say.
“The overall building presents a building mass that is proportionate with the allotment size; the relative mass is considered reasonable given the site dimensions, context and topography of the site.
“To further assist in reducing the building massing front and rear balconies have been separated, the roof reduced at the northern facade and angled western balconies.
“Additionally, the proposal satisfies the aims of the relevant planning legislations; it is a permissible use and complies with the development standards and zone objectives.”
The documents say the location of the site lends itself to higher density outcomes due to the access to services, transport, pedestrian and cyclist facilities and utilities.
“The residential areas within the city fringe will provide for a diverse range of housing to accommodate an additional 10,000 residents over the next 25 years,” they say.
“New development will consist of medium to high density residential apartments to encourage increased housing within walking distance of the city centre.
“The density and scale of the proposal is reasonable and compatible with the dimensions of the sloping topography of the site.”
The documents say the character of the local area is undergoing change as older existing sites are being developed with higher density residential accommodation.
They say the development has been broken up with various different materials and multiple recesses, as well as angled elements.
“The elevations of the building have been developed with a clear narrative to break down their perceived bulk and scale and provide areas of interest combined with contemporary and uplifting aesthetics,” they say.
“To assist with articulation and visual interest, expanses of any single material is avoided (with the proposal incorporating multiple material selection on each façade, creating interest and articulation to every aspect.
“The revised construction materials include a brick podium which is complementary with the existing surrounding materials.
“The proposal as amended is of a higher quality-built form with significant architectural detailing with changes in colours and materials ensuring the bulk and scale of the building is reduced and is consistent with the context of the area.”
Objectors say the proposal is out of keeping with the area, with a “boarding house of this nature” a set-back for Gosford.
“The establishment of low-cost housing of this nature was one of the main reasons for the town’s steady decline over the past three decades,” one submission says.
Another submission says the development would “disrupt the current flourishing social progression that Gosford is experiencing”.
Source: Central Coast Council DA tracker, Aug 8, 2022, DA 60833/2021