Wrong for the Gong: High-rise plans spark community backlash
By Jeremy Lasek, a member of the new 'Wrong for the Gong' group within Neighbourhood Forum 5
Concern over multiple plans to build skyscrapers in Wollongong City’s Flinders Street precinct has sparked a growing backlash and plans for a community rally.
The newly formed Wrong for the Gong group says submissions lodged with the state government for buildings well above 30 storeys will entirely change the character of the city and cause irreparable damage.
Leigh Forsyth represents the owners of Eclipse, a unit development in Belmore Street. He is also heading the Wrong for the Gong group, established within Neighbourhood Forum 5.
At the latest NF5 meeting, Leigh outlined the group’s concerns at the impact of an estimated 5000 new residents moving into the Flinders Street area, where there are currently 500. He emphasised the group wasn’t anti-development or anti-housing. “It’s just a matter of getting the scale right,” he said.
Iconic views threatened
In his submission opposing construction of three residential towers (35 storeys, 25 storeys and 12 storeys), on the former gasworks site in Smith Street, Leigh said it would “completely destroy Wollongong City Council’s newly adopted Flinders Street Precinct Urban Design Framework”, which aimed “to protect the iconic views from our city out to Mount Keira and the Illawarra Escarpment”.
As reported in The Illawarra Flame, Wollongong City Council also lodged a strong objection to the project on multiple grounds.
Leigh said the “massive scale” of the Smith Street project, when combined with others on the former Bunnings site, and adjacent to North Wollongong railway station, would “dump thousands of new residents into this tiny pocket at the same time and cause traffic gridlock”.
He has called on the state government to “pause its assessment, or extend the exhibition period so that the cumulative impact of all the moving parts can be looked at properly.”
The Wrong for the Gong rally will also oppose the scale of the 38-storey (130-metre high) residential tower block proposed for 4-4A Flinders Street, currently occupied by a car yard. If approved, it will be the tallest building in the region. The current height restriction on the site is 32 metres.
Extreme overdevelopment
In opposing that project, NF5 described it as “an extreme overdevelopment of the site that would create unacceptable local impacts on future residents, users of the precinct, particularly public transport users, and the surrounding neighbourhoods”.
NF5 listed traffic congestion, lack of parking, increased flood risk, overshadowing of nearby properties, a lack of community amenity and children's play space, and insufficient tree planting as reasons why the proposal in its current form should be rejected.
Helen Crocco lives on the western side of the railway line and says she was “appalled“ by the plans when she saw them. Helen said the height of the building would shade her home and hundreds more in the streets around her.
“It’s really going to stick out in a way that’s quite grating,” Helen said. “You’ll come off the highway and the first thing you’ll see is this building, double the size of anything else in Wollongong."
Where will children play
She was worried about families moving into the high rise having no play area for children. The nearest playground is about 600 metres away.
“They’re going to have to walk across the railway line and down to Robinson Park, where council removed the toilet last year.”
Helen said she did not believe most home owners who stand to be impacted by the project know about it.
“They’re unaware of it, and it was quite a shock when I made the realisation, because it means you‘ll walk out of the railway station to be accosted by this 38-storey building. It’s just inconceivable.”
The Wrong for the Gong rally will take place on the corner of Belmore and Smith Streets in Wollongong at 10.30am on Sunday, August 30.
The NSW Government is assessing submissions received for both the Flinders Street and Smith Street developments.
Note: The writer, Jeremy Lasek, is a member of Neighbourhood Forum 5 and its Wrong for the Gong group.
