Plans to replace an older unit block with an $85 million luxury apartment complex on Oxford Street in Paddington have been approved by the Minns government despite concerns from hundreds of residents, the local MP and Woollahra Council that it would result in fewer relatively affordable homes.
Citing the delivery of more than 40 well-located dwellings, the state government approved developer Toohey Miller’s proposal to bulldoze a three-storey block of 27 studio apartments and several townhouses for an eight-storey building of 44 units opposite the Victoria Barracks military base in Sydney’s east.
Eleven of the new units will be affordable housing offered at below-market rent for 15 years, which triggered criticism the development would lead to an overall loss of moderately priced homes.
Independent Woollahra councillor Harriet Price, who represents the Paddington ward, said tenants at the 50-year-old apartment block approved for demolition had last week “[woken] to the sound of a large truck delivering building materials and hoardings to the development site”.
“The community is gutted. In a housing crisis, we need affordable homes for essential workers, not private resorts towering over Paddington’s historic conservation area,” Price said.
The project became a lightning rod for debate over developers’ use of policies designed to boost housing supply to knock down Sydney’s older, cheaper apartments for larger, expensive units. It coincides with debate over plans to increase density in Woollahra and Edgecliff.
Planning Minister Paul Scully previously argued “cities are not museums” when asked about the proposal, and insisted Sydney must change and evolve to ease the state’s housing shortage.
The apartment block mostly comprises two- and three-bedroom apartments.
The bulk of 377 public submissions the government received on the proposal were negative. Of the 332 objections, 80 per cent raised concerns the building would be at odds with Paddington’s character, while 69 per cent were worried about the loss of low-cost or affordable housing.
Woollahra Council objected to the net loss of affordable dwellings and lack of smaller apartments; the height, bulk and scale of the “incompatible” building; traffic congestion and negative impacts on the Paddington heritage conservation area and Victoria Barracks.
In response to the feedback, the developer submitted revised plans which added four apartments, changed the dwelling mix to include one-bedroom units, and cut the building height by 1.2 metres.
The Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure recommended the project for approval subject to conditions. Its assessment report said the block’s bulk and scale aligned with state planning controls for the site, would not have unreasonable privacy or overshadowing impacts, was compatible with the desired future character of the area, and would not adversely impact heritage.
“The proposal would support state government priorities to deliver well-located housing as it will deliver 44 apartments, including 11 affordable housing apartments, in an accessible location,” the report said.
Price intends to table a notice of motion, seeking legal advice on whether the approval could be challenged, at the council’s next meeting.
Independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich said the approval was “devastating and deeply depressing”.
He said there was “a real human cost” to the project going ahead amid a housing crisis.
“Low-income earners and vulnerable people are already getting evicted from their homes and neighbourhoods – just so that property investors and speculators can increase their profits.”
Greenwich said the decision exposed “serious flaws” in the Labor state government’s planning policies and priorities. He said he would work with the council to explore ways to protect existing affordable housing stock, and intended to raise the matter with Premier Chris Minns and Scully.
“We are being forced to accept huge density uplift but without any net affordable housing benefit,” Greenwich said.
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