MEDIA RELEASE - November 25, 2015
Greens Member for Balmain, Jamie Parker MP, acknowledged the concerns raised by over 100 local residents who attended Tuesday’s public meeting called at short notice by community members concerned about the development proposal for Bidura in Glebe.
“This site includes the historically significant Bidura villa at 357 Glebe Point Road which was designed in Victorian Regency style by renowned architect Edmund Blacket,” said Mr Parker.
“Bidura was the home of the Blacket family from 1858-1860 while Blacket was designing the nearby Great Hall at the University of Sydney. The Glebe community is fiercely proud of this heritage property, the last remaining 1850s villa on the eastern side of Glebe Point Road.
“The large site is 5,550 square metres in total and includes a multi-storey office block in Concrete Brutalist style, built by the NSW government in 1980 and utilised as a children’s court. This building will be demolished.
“Bidura was the largest disposal of residential property in 2014 by the state government and sold for more than $33 million to two property developers, Lina Jin and Yuelai Zhou, who own ACC Development.
“The community meeting heard about the development application which includes 96 residential apartments in three-storey buildings on the perimeter in excess of 9 metres in height, as well as two apartment towers up to 27 metres in height.
“Residents are rightly concerned about overshadowing, heritage and traffic impacts on the very narrow local streets immediately adjacent to the site.
“Together we are calling for the City of Sydney to carefully consider this application and take seriously the issues raised by residents.
“This development is a direct result of the privatisation agenda of the NSW government that puts one of our area’s most important heritage buildings under the hammer.
“I congratulate the residents for their thoughtful and well-argued concerns about the proposed development. I will continue to work constructively with the residents and the City of Sydney to ensure an appropriate and sustainable outcome,” said Mr Parker.
END
For further comment from Jamie Parker: 0413581603 (Lesa)
Be the first to comment
Sign in with