A group of Belmont residents have banded together in objection to a proposed apartment block in their community that will be 69 per cent taller than the building height limit.
Plans have been lodged with Lake Macquarie council by Barr Planning for 35 Latitude to construct the 34-unit block with three commercial spaces at 1 Walter Street and 36 Macquarie Street, Belmont. The proposal, set next to parkland on the lake, will be nine storeys with a rooftop courtyard and three levels of basement car parking.
The current building height limit is 22 metres, but this proposal is 37.2 metres.
More than 40 per cent of the building frontage also encroaches more than one metre into the front setback.
You can't stop development, but this is over-development.
John Hoffmann
A post to the Lake Macquarie Locals Facebook group about the plans drew fierce criticism. Residents also told The Herald the building is too vast for the area.
"You can't stop development, but this is over-development," John Hoffmann said.
"It's excessive," Dennis Forsythe said.
"It's out of character, it will dominate to such a great extent," Kathy de Flon said.
"We just want them to comply with council's rules and we want council to adhere to its own planning regulations."
Part of the concern is about traffic.
A traffic study prepared for the application considered that the "proposed development application should be approved on traffic, parking and access grounds", but the site is positioned on a T intersection near a blind corner, creating fears among residents about visibility due to the scope of the building and increase in road users.
"There will be three floors chock-a-block with cars," Alex Shearer said.
"There is already a major problem in Belmont with traffic," Ms de Flon said.
Residents also took issue with the proposed removal of trees that provide shade to a nearby playground.
An arborist report recommended the removal of three mature or semi-mature trees, and the planting of two trees to make up for each one cut.
"The play area is well patronised and those trees not only provide shade but privacy as well," Ms de Flon said.
The mature tree is an 18-metre high swamp mahogany, which the arborist rated as being retainable for 15 to 40 years with an acceptable degree of risk, but has "branch failure history" and a large root system that would be impacted.
"The swamp mahogany should be a protected tree - there's very few in the area," Mr Forsythe said.
"We've had big gales here over the years and it's well rooted and deep anchored," Mr Hoffmann said.
Ms de Flon said the plan ignores feedback provided to a social impact assessment, and could set a precedent.
"It is inconceivable that this should be allowed to proceed," she said.
