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Urban Taskforce | Media Releases
Shadow cast over future of Sydney’s second CBD
08 July 2016
The recent rejection of a proposal for a tall tower at 48 Macquarie Street Parramatta sets a precedent for much of the Parramatta CBD to be constrained to buildings of only medium height that may not be economically viable says the Urban Taskforce.
“The Gateway Determination by the Department of Planning and Environment as Delegate of the Greater Sydney Commission to change the current Parramatta Council requirement of a 45 minute impact of shadows in mid-winter on Parramatta Place to nil over shadowing reduced the proposed 60 storey tower at 48 Macquarie Street to only 20 storeys.” Says Urban Taskforce CEO Chris Johnson “The likely impact of this is that the development will no longer be economically viable so no new development will occur.”
“More importantly the Gateway Determination will apply to all land affected by sun access under clause 7.4 of the Parramatta Local Environmental Plan. This means any sites north of Parramatta Place, Lancer Barracks and Jubilee Park will need to be low enough to allow winter sun to these three locations.”
Parramatta CBD also has another constraint on building height due to the requirement to preserve views from the World Heritage listed site of Parramatta Park. The federal government, with the support of Parramatta Council, has established a highly sensitive zone on the west of the CBD up to Marsden Street where building heights are restricted.”
VIEW AND SUN ACCESS CONSTRAINTS WILL DRAMATICALLY REDUCE HEIGHTS
The cumulative effect of all of these constraints is that building heights for much of Parramatta’s CBD will be reduced to levels that may make new developments financially unviable.” (See the plan below identifying areas within 400 metres of Parramatta Station that have significant height constraints)
Key to Figure 1 (below):
A – Sun access to Jubilee Park
B – Success access to Lancer Barracks
C – Sun access to Parramatta Place
D – Government House Views (highly sensitive)
Figure 1 Parramatta CBD Planning Proposal - Height of Buildings Map – (Parramatta City Council - February 2016) Overlay by Chris Johnson, CEO – Urban Taskforce, 8 July 2016.
“Following the reduction of height for 48 Macquarie Street comes the announcement of the winning design of an 80 storey tower by Holdmark at 197 Church Street that could also be slashed down to 20 storeys in height which will most likely stop the development as it will no longer be financially viable.”
“The reduction of two tower proposals from 60 and 80 storeys to 20 storeys would appear to bring to an end the vision of the now sacked Parramatta City Councillors for a futuristic city of tall slender towers.”
“Someone will need to resolve the tension between the image championed by the now sacked councillors of a high rise city and an excessive approach to maintaining sun access in mid-winter to a number of relatively small public spaces across Parramatta CBD.” says Urban Taskforce CEO Chris Johnson “The new Council of Parramatta City and the NSW Government can’t have a high rise city as well as sun access planes that stop development.”
IMPACT ON VALUE CAPTURE INCOME
“The sun access constraints will also have a serious impact on the City of Parramatta Council’s ability to raise funds for infrastructure. The council is proposing to have a value capture levy from tall new development in the CBD to help fund new infrastructure required to support the dual CBD status of Parramatta. Council has indicated that $835 million of new infrastructure is required but if most proposals become unviable due to view and solar access constraints little of these funds will be raised.”
CHURCH STREET TOWER REPRESENTS A POSSIBLE FUTURE
“The winning design for the Holdmark tower demonstrates just how exciting Parramatta could become as a CBD to rival Sydney’s CBD. The building design demonstrates an air of futuristic confidence with its combination of commercial space and apartments.”
Figure 2 Holdmark's 80 storey tower proposal for Parramatta. Source: Holdmark
LEADERSHIP NEEDED TO ENSURE A HIGH RISE FUTURE
“The Greater Sydney Commission will need to make a call on Parramatta’s future. Will it be an exciting high rise, cosmopolitan centre or will it remain undeveloped in most of the area north of the railway station with a few towers on the edges?”
“The Urban Taskforce believes that there is a win-win solution if detailed modelling of the high rise city is able to pinpoint just where public space can receive solar access without stopping the city’s growth.”
“The NSW Department of Planning continually reinforces the importance of height and density within 400 metres of railway stations and Parramatta Railway Station is one of the most important in the Sydney rail network. The Department is also championing Parramatta as the dual CBD for metropolitan Sydney.”
“The Urban Taskforce is keen to work with all parties to ensure that viable development can continue in the Parramatta CBD”
