Developers teasing boomers into prime regional city locations
LONDON: Developers are endeavouring to lower housing costs by teasing boomers out of key cities and into regional locations.
A property developer looking to unlock a key corner block on the fringe of Gosford’s CBD is hoping the fourth time will be a charm.
DFP Planning Pty Ltd, on behalf of developer Ken Schmidt, has lodged a request with the NSW Planning Department to issue a set of industry and location-specific planning guidelines for the large 7040sq m four-lot site on the corner of Dwyer and Mann St, North Gosford.
A development application (DA) for a scaled-down version of the $148 million, six-tower “gateway” development was put on public exhibition for the third time in February 2020.
However it was later withdrawn in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak but not before receiving a barrage of submissions objecting to the overall size and scale of the ambitious project.
The general concept has been around sine 2016 when the plans initially proposed six towers, including 391 residential units and commercial/retail floor space on nine lots either side of Mann St.
This was reduced in 2018 to five towers with 400 units but was also met with objections from surrounding residents citing concerns over the bulk and scale as well as overshadowing, privacy and landscaping.
A petition with 121 signatures against the development was lodged with council in February 2019.
In 2020 the application went back to six towers, with 353 apartments, with two facing towers either side of Mann St offering ground level commercial and retail space.
In it’s latest iteration, the project has dropped the five lots on the eastern side of Mann St and focuses purely on the irregular four-lot site on the western side.
DFP Planning has written to the NSW Planning Department requesting it prepare the Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARS) for the site.
The SEARS are essentially a set of guidelines which permit certain developments deemed to be regionally or state significant to exceed the existing planning controls under a specific site’s existing zoning.
The SEARS are a lever the government uses to enable major projects to go ahead but with further scrutiny and justifications for exceeding the usual zoning laws.
For the site at 35-37 Dwyer and 372-374 Mann streets, the proponent is seeking to exceed the current height and floor space provisions.
“On November 23, 2023, a pre-scoping meeting was held between the applicant and the regional assessments team at the NSW Department of Planning to discuss various design options,” the request for SEARS states.
“[The department] recommended proceeding to seeking preliminary advice from the City of Gosford Design Advisory Panel.
“On February 28, 2024, a design reference group workshop was held between the applicant and the City of Gosford Design Advisory Panel and comments provided for further consideration.
“The applicant is in the process of reviewing the design advice received and is seeking to concurrently prepare the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and associated specialist consultant reports for the purpose of submitting a state significant DA.
“The final form of the building will be determined during this process.”
