The University has consulted widely with major stakeholders including
the community, City of Sydney, Department of Education, Darlington Public
School and Department of Planning. As a consequence of the consultation
process, a guiding set of principles were developed. These principles are:
1. Reducing the overall
bulk and scale of the original proposal
2. Integrating the
joinery workshop building to keep a meaningful heritage connection to previous
uses of the site
3. Maintaining the large
Sydney Blue Gum tree and the existing corner park as a key part of the
landscape strategy
4. Significantly
increasing building setbacks to Codrington Street and Darlington Public School
5. Increasing pedestrian
access throughout the development precinct
To deliver on these principles, there have been some tradeoffs in the
overall design.
To answer your specific
questions:
SSH Question – Why is a car park needed under this building (the
number spaces in the car park has been cut back by about a third in the
current presentation)
Car parking is required under the
building in order to replace the existing on-street car park spaces which will
be eliminated once the building works commence, to comply with the City of
Sydney design guidelines and to allow service deliveries to be made to and from
the building. It is also in accordance with the masterplan vision of a
pedestrian priority campus with readily accessed car parking stations serviced
by arterial, sub-arterial and major local roads. The reduction in car
parking numbers is also in accordance with the City of Sydney guidelines.
SSH Question: Why has the car park entrance not been moved from
Abercrombie Street as per the July undertakings?
The extensive consultation process highlighted a number of issues which
have since formed the guiding principles. The car parking entrance is located
off Abercrombie Street as it means other competing principles such as
pedestrian access through the site, retention of the Sydney Blue Gum tree,
retention of the old Joinery workshop and a reduced building scale can be
achieved. It should be noted Abercrombie Street is classified as an arterial
road north of Cleveland Street and a sub-arterial road route south of Cleveland
Street. It currently carries 6,300 vehicles per day near Codrington Street and
under its classification, has the capacity to carry up to 20,000 vehicles per
day.
The new design has considered the pedestrian environment by providing an
east – west pathway, parallel to Abercrombie Street, suitable for bicycles,
prams and specifically designed for school children. It provides direct access
from Abercrombie Street to a newly proposed gate entrance at the Darlington
Public School. This pathway avoids any vehicular crossovers, existing or
proposed, and has been developed in conjunction with the Department of
Education.
Further, a second pathway traverses the site from Abercrombie Street to
Darlington Lane providing alternate site access to the School and the proposed
location for the Boundary Lane Child Care Centre. As part of the redevelopment
of the precinct, the University proposes to relocation the Boundary Lane Child
Care Centre to Darlington Lane, provide direct parking access for parents,
refurbishment an existing derelict building to become office accommodation and
encourage greater pedestrian activity in the precinct. Also, the University has
created a permanent bus parking bay for the school at their entrance in Golden
Grove Street.
SSH Question – Is the retention of the Joinery currently stopping the
relocation of the entrance?
The Abercrombie Street car parking entrance supports the preservation of
other principles such as pedestrian access through the site and to the school,
retention of the Sydney Blue Gum tree and retention of the old Joinery
workshop.
SSH Question: What other alternatives exist that would allow both the
retention of the Joinery Workshop and no access from Abercrombie Street
and why are they not feasible?Extensive
analysis has been undertaken into three other options.
This
information will be contained in the traffic assessment which will go on public
exhibition during the development application process.
This
is an overview of the options and constraints / benefits of each:
Darlington lane access : Originally considered the best alternative it was
discounted as an option for a number of reasons:
Access from Darlington
Lane, which is presently 4m wide would require significant land resumption
to allow an appropriate sweep path for trucks and cars to enter and exit
the car park.
-
Due the topography of
the site, a car park access would need a 16m+ ramp from Darlington Lane to
behind Mandelbaum House to achieve access into the car park. The ramp
construction would impact upon the root systems of the trees in the
School, requiring their removal. -
The invasive nature of
the ramp would prevent pedestrian pathways through the site and to the
school.
Codrington
Street access: Two locations were considered in Codrington Street.
-
The first location was
along the easement of Rose Street however further exploration found a
significant amount of services located in this area. While these could be
removed at considerable cost to the University, this location would be in
direct conflict with the pedestrian access which includes some 6,000
students walking along Codrington Street to the Business School and
Darlington campus. Codrington Street already records a high level of
pedestrian and vehicular accidents. -
The second location
would follow the alignment of Boundary Lane and would require the removal
of the Joinery workshop and prevent any opportunities for direct
pedestrian access through the site. Due to the ramp construction,
this option would quite possibly adversely impact upon the health and
longevity of the Sydney Blue Gum tree.
Abercrombie Precinct redevelopment update 1st March 2012
The
submission of the Abercrombie Precinct Redevelopment with the Department of
Planning has been delayed as we continue to finalise plans for the project.
Over the
past few months we have
been consulting with our stakeholders, including the local community, to develop
a new plan that compliments the character and heritage of Darlington.
The
University is committed to building a world-class business school that also
provides a space that the community can use and be proud of. In order to
achieve this we believe that the current project requires more time to get it
right. This time will also allow us to ensure that the current deliverables are
achievable within the assigned budget.
We will
continue to keep you up to date and will communicate the new submission date
when it is confirmed.
Project
details and updates are available at www.sydney.edu.au/abercrombie_precinct
Source: Media statement to South Sydney Herald 23 February 2012 and 1 March 2012