Supermarket development rejected by court

Commissioner Trevor Bly said the $12 million development would create significant traffic consequences and erode the amenity and character of Erskineville village.

“The planning controls at Erskineville are designed to encourage smaller scale retail to service the local area and hence retain a village quality. A large supermarket would have changed the area’s character and generated significant traffic on the village’s already congested streets,” said Deputy Lord Mayor Marcelle Hoff, after the court made its decision on Tuesday January 13.

It has been over 15 months since the application was first seen by local residents.

Paul Howard, from Friends of Erskineville community group, says the City Council needs to be a bit more realistic and pragmatic about these developments.

“The Council policy on development applications needs to be reviewed. As it is now, the Council need only to notify residents within a 75-metre radius of a proposed development,” Mr Howard says.

He says the guidelines are not appropriate when the development is a two-storey, 2,138 square metre building.

Mr Howard says Erskineville has a group of very passionate people who will jealously guard sites where the development proposal is inappropriate.

“The community needs to band together  when we are up against big corporations with lots of resources,” he says.

On the day of the court hearing, 250 people in the community made their presence felt at the site of the unsuccessful development.

Source: South Sydney Herald February 2009 www.southsydneyherald.com.au