Veloshin v Randwick Council [2007] NSWLEC 428

Land and Environment Court of New South Wales

CITATION : Veloshin v Randwick Council [2007] NSWLEC 428

Applicant: Anatol Veloshin & Michael Moses PARTIES : Respondent: Randwick City Council;

FILE NUMBER(S) : 10095 of 2007

CORAM: Roseth SC

KEY ISSUES: Development Application :- Planning principle:assessment of height, bulk and scale

LEGISLATION CITED: Stockland Development Pty Ltd v Manly Council [2004] NSWLEC 472

DATES OF HEARING: 03/04/2007 and 04/07/2007

DATE OF JUDGMENT: 13 July 2007

Applicant: LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES: Ms S Duggan. barrister instructed by Mr V Conomos, solicitor of Pike Pike & Fenwick Mr P McEwen SC instructed by Ms T Litt, solicitor of Shaw Reynolds Bowen & Gerathy

JUDGMENT: THE LAND AND ENVIRONMENT COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Roseth SC

13 July 2007

10095 of 2007 Anatol Veloshin & Michael Moses v Randwick City Council

JUDGMENT 1 Senior Commissioner: This is an appeal against the refusal by Randwick City Council (the council) of a development application to demolish the existing development and erect a three to four-storey building containing two shops, eight one-bedroom and two studio apartments at 35-37 St Paul's Road, Randwick. At the conclusion of the hearing the applicant indicated that it was willing to delete a floor containing two studio apartments. Given that this change goes towards reducing the shortcomings of the proposal, I have assumed that the two studio apartments are removed and adjusted the evidence accordingly.

The site 2 The site is on the northern side of St Paul's Street in "The Spot" commercial centre of Randwick. It is trapezoidal, with an area of 361m2. The rear boundary adjoins Aeolia Lane. The width at the lane is 7.9m. The existing building has a Floor Space Ratio (FSR) of 1.35:1 and contains two shops and two two-bedroom apartments above. The front façade to St Paul's Street is listed as a contributory item in the Conservation Area in which the site is located. 3 To the east the site adjoins the Ritz cinema, the central part of which is heritage listed. The section that adjoins the site is a new addition to the cinema and reaches the height of about 15m. Beyond the Ritz is a vacant site, which is part of Brigidene College and on which a proposal to erect a public car park for 156 cars has been approved. To the west the site adjoins 33A St Paul's Street, which is a building containing shops at ground floor and a dwelling at first floor level. Further to the west are similar buildings up to the corner of Aeolia Street. The corner site contains a new development of retailing and residential. On the other side of the lane is Brgidene College. 4 The Spot is a strip shopping centre of traditional appearance. Most of the buildings are two to three storeys. The Ritz cinema, which has been recently expanded, is the largest building in the centre.