Hakoah moves forward
Sydney’s Woollahra Council has voted overwhelmingly not to heritage list White City and not to proceed with a site Specific Development Control Plan for White City, which would have imposed specific controls heralding a further significant success for the planned Hakoah sports and social centre.
Hakoah Club president George Farkas
The Joint Regional Planning Panel , a government appointed body, had already approved Hakoah’s Stage 1 Development Application, which allows for the demolition of the site other than 3 specified items. The Council vote was as a result of that approval.
The Greens Councillor attempted to have the heritage and DCP issues deferred to a later meeting to allow all residents and objectors to make submissions to Council. It was clear that they were yet again attempting to have White City heritage listed, Hakoah having successfully in the past resisted a concerted push to do so, and also attempting to have site specific controls via a DCP.
Hakoah’s President , George Farkas , made written and oral submissions to Council, arguing that it was both a futile and bizarre exercise to heritage list a site, which apart from the 3 specified items, was going to be demolished as well as arguing that it was unnecessary to add further planning controls.
He also warned Council that it was opening a Pandora’s box if it allowed further submissions by residents and objectors , as their response to these issues was to again object to bulk, scale, traffic and parking, which were both irrelevant and on which they had previously addressed Council and the JRPP and which had been definitively determined by the JRPP in Hakoah’s favour.
The push to defer to allow further submissions from residents was overwhelmingly defeated and the decision not to heritage list or have a site specific DCP overwhelmingly adopted.
Having secured approval of its Stage 1 Concept DA, the next step is the submission by Hakoah of a Stage 2 DA, which is well into the planning. Hakoah anticipates that this will be lodged in the early part of next year.
President George Farkas said “ The Development Committee co-chaired by Phillip Wolanski and Allen Linz, Finance Committee, Membership Committee and Marketing Committee have all been meeting regularly. The Board is confident the coming year will see significant progress to construction”.
