Between the Affordable Housing site and Wentworth Park is an old industrial site, formerly the NSW Government Garage. Before that, the part of the site on the corner of Bay Street housed the Glebe Ragged School, which moved there from the corner of Glebe Street in 1890. Currently the buildings house a private fashion school and other businesses.

The owner is seeking to amend the City Town Plan 2012, the first amendment to be considered. The reason for the amendment is to enable him to build a mixed use building of nine storeys, with the ground floor remaining commercial and the upper floors residential, and including 7.5% affordable rental units, as required by the City’s affordable housing strategy.

Council planners and the owner gave a presentation on the proposal at the Glebe Society Committee Meeting of 10 April. It was clear the proposed amendment was influenced by the Affordable Housing Project next door, especially in height and density. While it may not be as objectionable from the point of view of ownership as that proposal, it is equally objectionable in its design and impact. The proposed density is twice the current Business Zoning.

Janice Challinor, from the Planning Subcommittee, has been especially helpful writing our submissions while I have been preoccupied with the Planning Forum