What value this piece of national heritage when it will spend most of its time in shadow dwarfed by twin towers of Mammon on either side.

These buildings will box the church in. They will put the church and its magnificent stain-glass windows in shadow most mornings on its north face and ensure that the Rectory will be entombed in darkness almost the whole day. The developments also effectively make sure that nobody can view the church and its spires without standing almost right in front of the church.
On the bright side, you can buy a gorgeous view of Edmund Blacket’s delicate spire by purchasing one of over 90 units (at a current local market value of over 1/2 million dollars) or leasing a section of the proposed 8,000 square metres of commercial space.

The church propaganda written by their PR consultants HAWKER BRITTON claims their application “complies with all relevant planning and heritage controls”. It does not.

• This proposal flagrantly exceeds Sydney City Council’s floorspace controls.
• The most commonly voiced criticisms of the proposal are:
• There should be at least 3 stories less to lower the buildings below the church roofline.
• The inadequate set-back blocks light and views of the church from most angles.
• The loss of the pedestrian link between Surry Street to Tewekesbury Avenue.
• The Floor Space Ratio is 70% over maximum (FSR maximum is 2.75:1. Trafalgar Properties wants 3.8:1.).
• 9,927 square metres is clearly an over-development of the site;
  

The NSW Government gifted the land to St John’s Church some 150 years ago, to be kept in “the public trust’ for church use and no other. The church has not had to pay taxes on that land. Further they have received considerable public monies from state heritage funds in the last 5 years - $750, 000 for the spire alone – for the preservation of this national heritage institution.

Despite this ‘public trust’ they refuse to meet with any residents. Any question is directed straight to PR consultants Hawker Britton. The church refused residents the hire the St Johns War Memorial Public Hall to hold a community meeting. Since its opening in 1968, the War Memorial Public Hall has been the place for meetings of public importance, a venue for local politicians and the Darlo voting booth.