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Save Kings Cross VillageWhat do we love about our village?

We love a reborn Kings Cross / Potts Point daytime and night-time economy.

We love the village vibe with new boutiques, galleries, cafes and tea houses, bakeries, small bars and our very own cheese shop.

We love the neighbourly spaces where Macleay Street meets Darlinghurst Road.

We love a diverse community that welcomes others to enjoy our village.

 

What will destroy our village?

  • A new Development Application for The Bourbon, Darlinghurst Road is currently on exhibition. If approved by Sydney City Council, this will mean:
  • 4+ years of constant truck traffic, noise, dust and dirt from deep excavation beside renowned residential and heritage listed buildings.
  • 14,000+ truck movements through our narrow local streets. That’s 1 truck every 9 minutes 6 days a week for more than 6 months just for the demolition.
  • 8 storey buildings housing 2 large pubs operating 24/7, hotel accommodation and 54 residential apartments on one block.
  • Pedestrians, outdoor café and bar patrons will disappear. How will local business survive more than 4 years of loaded trucks and no parking on local streets? Construction mayhem from 7am 6 days a week?
  • Residents and business along the length of Macleay Street, Darlinghurst Road, Roslyn Street, Llankelly Place and the surrounding neighbourhood will face extreme disruption for years. Public pain for private gain?

 

 

 

What will our village look like?

  • No more vibrant neighbourhood with a friendly vibe day and night. In its place are 2 large hotels along with hotel accommodation inside an enormous bulky, bland exterior. Little sunshine on the streets to make outside dining a pleasure.
  • No more independent small bars, cafes, restaurants, bakeries and shops. Patrons won’t queue for coffee, eat outside or shop on Macleay Street and Darlinghurst Road during more than 4 years of noise, dust, dirt and traffic congestion. With no direct sunshine and little light, will they return?

Take action NOW to save our village!

1. Learn more about the new Development Application for The Bourbon. Go to https://online2.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/DA/OnExhibitions then select “Potts Point” from the dropdown menu and in the results click on “D/2020/916”. Alternatively, visit: https://tinyurl.com/y3ssjy7z

2. Email in your objection to Sydney City Council at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 20 October 2020. Make sure you quote the DA number: D/2020/916. Include your name and address. Some suggested points to make (write these in your own words and add your own!): - 4+ years of truck movements - Endless noise, dust and dirt for residents and businesses - One 10 storey building and other buildings of 8 stories - Parking will disappear - How will local businesses survive?

3. Write to the Sydney City Council councillors – here are their email addresses: https://2011residentsassociation.wordpress.com/council-of-the-city-of-sydney-emailaddresses

 

It takes a village to be a village!

 

 

Urban Pioneers: Architects of The Cross

http://crossart.com.au/archive/101-2010-exhibitions-projects/101-urban-pioneers

 

Image left - Kingsley Hall, 1925. Architect Emil Sodersten. Front: Bob Woodward's El Alamein Fountain, 1961
Right - Map from City Council’s DA page - https://online.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/DA/IndividualApplication?tpklapappl=1332824 

 

Demolition of existing structures except for the northern and western facades of No. 30-30B Darlinghurst Road and construction of a mixed use development with a scale of part-5, part-6, part-7 and part-8 storeys.

Map - Within the red outline from Top to bottom the buildings are:
18-20 Darlinghurst Road (Chemist, medical, yoga studio) — demolish
30-30B Darlinghurst Road — retain facade (not indicated on DA plans) / demolish
32-32A Darlinghurst Road (hotel / backpackers (Bourbon / Swans) — demolish
22-28 Darlinghurst Road — (Les Girls / Empire Hotel) demolish

 

Current Action: Bourbon / Les Girls sites from 18-32 Darlinghurst Road

A well-attended meeting on 18 January organised by our colleagues 2011 Residents Association, slammed the  Bourbon / Les Girls Development Proposal –as a "monstrosity" which "doesn't add anything to the area. “It has no architectural merit. It's far too dense for the area. It is as ugly as sin.”
 
The $47 million development spans 18-32 Darlinghurst Road, encompassing the Bourbon Hotel (which was the site of the former Bourbon and Beefsteak restaurant), the Empire Hotel and the building which housed Les Girls.
 
The developer Sam Arnaout, and the chief executive of IRIS Capital the proponent lodged the massive DA over the Holiday season to avoid comments. He has failed as hundreds of local opponents have rallied against the monster.

 

 

10 REASONS WHY THE COUNCIL SHOULD REJECT DA2017/1705 (18-32 Darlinghurst Road)

• The DA misrepresents Potts Point, claiming that it is an entertainment, retail and commercial precinct when it is also one of Australia’s most densely populated residential areas. 18-32 Darlinghurst Road is surrounded by people’s homes. And, as the NSW Government’s Office of Environment & Heritage knows, Potts Point ‘has already reached a high level of density and increased density should be discouraged’.

• The DA claims that it is providing additional retail spaces, when 66%+ of the ground floor (and over 80% of the street front) is one bar passing as two independent bars. They have a common passageway. Kings Cross doesn’t need another beer barn. The Council should prescribe mixed retail, restaurants and boutique bars.

• The DA wants to override the street’s 6 storey height limit (22m) inconsistently asserting that parts of it will be 8 and 9 storeys high. Although Kingsley Hall is 30m tall, all the other surrounding buildings are all 2, 3 & 4 storeys high. The DA repeatedly uses the undistinguished #30A to justify its height. The developer must resubmit plans for buildings which are no more than 22 metres.

• The DA does not make any provision for affordable housing or for public art

• The DA does not provide floorplans, a fitout specifications or noise impact statement for the proposed bar(s). It claims that it is significantly reducing the overall bar space. But 2 floors of the present Bourbon are shells and the proposed bar will have a larger ground-level footprint. This beer barn will trade 24/7 and have gaming facilities. The architect’s drawings misrepresent the street facades, implying a row of shops when it will be one cavernous pub. The developer must revise and submit detailed drawings of this crucial space, showing multi-purpose retail usage as well as its fenestration and its acoustics strategies.

• The DA wants to convert the very narrow Barncleuth Lane into a two-way street and redirect the Roslyn Street traffic. It claims, erroneously that the Roslyn Street traffic goes into Darlinghurst Road. In fact, it goes east into Ward Avenue. This plan will also rob us of loading spaces and street parking. It could also handicap the police station’s operations. Barncleuth Lane and Roslyn Street must remain one way streets and operate throughout the build.

• By the developer’s own admission the common areas (Levels 1 & 5) will not get enough sunlight.

• The developer wants to retain the façade of #30A to justify his bid for a tall building. This is a ruse. His own Heritage Report does not value its architectural significance, because of its enclosed verandahs, aluminium windows and painted bricks. There is no reason to keep this building – or stick to its height.

• The developer claims that this complex will ‘help create much more of a village atmosphere with a boutique lifestyle. Where the transition is happening in parts of the area, there's a huge vacuum left in others. It's now time to fill that vacuum to contribute to its rejuvenation and to make that commercially viable, we need to build apartments and retail too’(SMH 28.12.2017). On the contrary, its scale, materials, verticality and beer barn will all disrupt ‘the village atmosphere’ and ‘boutique lifestyle’. The Council should demand more – aesthetically and socially.

• There is no evidence that this developers have the aesthetic competence to marry quality homes with a beer barn

Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more details


I hope you will join me in opposing the proposed demolition of stately architecture at the corner of Macleay St and Darlinghurst Road (site of the Bourbon and buildings to left and right of it). Worse than the demolition of historic buildings is the proposal of a particularly cheap looking development for 83 units proposed for this high-profile site (bland at best, ugly at worst) !
See http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/smaller-bourbon-but-plenty-of-apartments-promised-in-kings-cross-overhaul-20171227-h0anir.html

 


Action
Share notice of meeting and your disapproval on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram #KingsCross #PottsPoint #architecture
Write to Councillors demanding that they hear the DA in a Public Meeting in Open Council. (Submissions closed on 24 January 2018.)

Email to City of Sydney:
Address to Lord Mayor and Councillors, who must reject this – please state that CLEARLY in the first paragraph of emails/letters.
City of Sydney MAIL <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (attention Russell Hand)
Head: re D/2017/1705 - 18-32a Darlinghurst Road, Potts Point – Against the destruction of Kings Cross Architecture and Heritage

 


Links

Watch videos and share videos. A Shoutout of thanks and gratitude to Paul Wagner who organised the "film production team" and worked on the edit suite with the film maker and acted as his assistant, and undertook the arduius task of uploading these videos to the 2011 Residents Association Youtube Channel in a timely manner.

The list:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZgYUdChm3E  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNaAXtAZ9CQ&t=3s  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfs_DSp5FKo&t=103s 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s_EJeIEZk4&t=9s  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBQza8XG89w&t=5s  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbXpQpFwvKA&t=1s 

ABC News, Kings Cross development plan for former Les Girls site slammed by locals as 'ugly' http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-28/kings-cross-development-plan-sledged-by-locals/9290558 

Iris capital developments Newcastle CBD - Sam Arnaout – more developer nastiness – and very similar to the Darlo Road Kings Cross DA

At http://www.theherald.com.au/story/5156087/new-plans-reveal-more-of-newcastle-mall-redevelopment/?cs=305 

 

 

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