Save Our
Sydney Suburbs (NSW) Inc.
News
Release December 2003
Good News - Duntroon Avenue
Hi SOS Members
Wendy Stamp, secretary of the St Leonards North Wollstonecraft Community Association
reports that she has some good news about Australand's attempt to overdevelop
the Duntroon Avenue St Leonards site. For years the local community has been
doggedly fighting this overbearing proposal for years which would loom over
a good part of St Leonards. Many battles were fought to get Councillors on their
side. A milestone in this saga was reached last week when the Land and Environment
court threw out the Australand application (the case was "Australand vs
Lane Cove Council").
Wendy writes "We understand that Commissioner Brown was very critical of
the design, size and bulk and he was critical of the SEPP 53 amendment itself
in setting inappropriate parameters for the site.
"Depending on the extent of criticism in the Brown judgement, we are thinking about trying to see if Knowles would re-make the SEPP.
"There is still an outstanding judgement from another L and E court case ( held earlier this year) where Lane Cove Council contested the making of the SEPP amendment on a point of law so the SEPP might have to be re-made anyway.
"Even if Australand
re- submits a new DA you would think they will have to make some significant
concessions."
Wendy says a key part of the judgement relates to bulk, size, scale and urban
context and that SEPP 65 is critical . "This is very relevant to the Ku-ring-
gai fights too. High rise next to single dwelling houses" she writes.
Community persistence pays off.
Tony Recsei
President
Save Our Suburbs (SOS)