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Ashmore Precinct

Location

The Ashmore Precinct is located in Erskineville and is bounded by Ashmore Street, Mitchell Road, Coulson Street and the Bankstown rail line.

Ashmore Precinct Erskineville Oval Ashmore Street Ashmore Street Ashmore Street Erskineville Station Sydney Park Coulson Street Coulson Street Coulson Street Coulson Street Mitchell Road Mitchell Road Mitchell Road

History

Historically the site has evolved as an unplanned area within the city. This is quite typical of development in the 1800’s in Sydney with housing built on the higher land, and warehouses concentrated along rail corridors and swampy areas where land reclamation occurred. The most significant former land use on the site was the ‘Metters’ factory that produced ovens and boilers until 1973.

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Background

The existing precinct, although predominantly used for light industrial purposes, has a mix of land uses including commercial, retail and residential. The precinct is characterised by large scale industrial buildings on large land holdings, and includes a number of owner-occupied strata industrial units.

Since 1998 there have been several development applications for residential development, and the area is now experiencing change. It is recognised that having numerous landowners will mean that complete redevelopment of the precinct will likely take a number of years. Some sites may also need to amalgamate to maximise development potential. It is also recognised that some established businesses may not wish to move.

However, a precinct of this scale requires a comprehensive ‘Structure Plan’ that identifies the location of new roads and open spaces to guide future development, and to address site constraints. To guide the future development of the Ashmore Precinct, the Council approved in August 2006 a Development Control Plan (DCP).

Key Features of the DCP

Key features are:

  • Land uses including preferred locations for residential, commercial and retail
  • Building design and form with a focus on achieving design excellence, and respecting the character of the surrounding area by providing a transition in the height, scale and type of building
  • Staging to ensure that all development sites, within the overall site, can develop independently without adverse impacts on neighbouring areas
  • Public domain, including a new park and new streets
  • Pedestrian, cycle and traffic linkages; and
  • Critical infrastructure elements to manage stormwater.

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What will the Precinct look like?

The City carried out extensive urban design analysis to develop appropriate controls for building heights, built form and density of development.  Individual lots can be redeveloped independently, and will be designed so as not to overshadow adjacent properties or block city views from Sydney Park. The DCP also aims to provide a range of housing types such as terraces, apartments.

Artists Impression

The City Plan

A new draft City Plan has been prepared for the City of Sydney. The draft City Plan is a package of planning controls, including a Local Environmental Plan (LEP) and DCP for the whole Local Government Area. The draft City Plan was publicly exhibited early in 2011. Details on the City Plan are available here.

In preparing the draft City Plan, the Ashmore DCP has also been reviewed, as part of the Erskineville, Alexandria (West) and Newtown (South) Urban Design Study (the Study). The review work looked at rationalising some of the streets and examining the scope for increasing building heights and densities across the precinct. This is in line with the City’s obligation to fulfil the targets set by the Department of Planning and Infrastructure in its Metropolitan Plan for Sydney 2036 as well as the targets set by the City’s Sustainable Sydney 2030 Vision to provide a range of residential housing stock including affordable housing. The Study is a document that provides a number of recommendations that have informed the preparation of the draft City Plan. You can view the Study here.

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Additional Information

New Planning Controls for sites at 57 Ashmore Street and 165-175 Mitchell Road (the Goodman sites)

Following representations from a landowner, the Department of Planning and Infrastructure directed the City to change the draft City Plan for two lots at 57 Ashmore Street and 165-175 Mitchell Road, prior to the public exhibition of the draft City Plan.

The changes are:

  • Change the land use zoning of 57 Ashmore Street from B2 Local Centre to B4 Mixed Uses
  • Increase in FSR from 1.75:1 to 2.75:1 (Crown Plaza in Waterloo is 2.5:1)
  • Increase in maximum building heights at 57 Ashmore Street from 35m to 60m (9 to 19 storeys) and
  • Increase in building heights at 165-175 Mitchell Road from 25m to 60m (7 to 19 storeys).

 

The City of Sydney was not involved in the development of these changes. 

Exhibition of Planning Controls

These draft planning controls were exhibited as part of the draft City Plan from 2 February to 21 April 2011. Around 510 submissions were received relating to Ashmore.

On 29 March 2011, the Lord Mayor hosted a community information session at which the City, the landowner and the Friends of Erskineville made presentations. About 350 community members from Alexandria and Erskineville  attended this meeting.

Around 510 submissions were received relating to Ashmore. The vast majority of submissions objected to the changes to the draft LEP on the following grounds:

  • Height of buildings is out of scale with the surrounding area;
  • Overshadowing impacts on existing residential properties;
  • Insufficient justification and detail from the landowner;
  • Traffic and parking impacts;
  • Lack of adequate infrastructure;
  • Over-development;
  • Poor design quality; and
  • Development that appears to focus on profit rather than sustainable design.

Additional Investigation

To understand the full implications of the FSR and height changes exhibited, the City commissioned additional traffic and flood management studies and carried out a thorough urban design analysis. The conclusion from this work confirmed that:

  • The local road network does not have the capacity to accommodate the additional traffic resulting from the increased FSR;
  • Alternative flood management options are very expensive to implement and therefore do not allow opportunity to redistribute development floor space; and
  • The proposed height would result in towers that would have inappropriate urban design and amenity impacts
  • You can see some of this work here.

Current Position

On 19 September 2011 the Lord Mayor presented to the Council a Minute which detailed the work, and Council Officers recommendations, for planning controls for the Goodman sites (57 Ashmore Street and 165-175 Mitchell Road). You can view this minute in the downloads.

The City’s planners intend to recommend the original controls that were approved by Council and the Central Sydney Planning Committee (CSPC) in September and October 2010 when they endorsed the public exhibition of the draft City Plan. These are:

  • A zoning of B2 ‘Local Centre’ for 57 Ashmore Street;
  • A maximum building height of 35 metres (9 storeys) 57 Ashmore Street;
  • A maximum height of 27 metres (7 storeys) for the site at 165-175 Mitchell Road; and
  • An FSR of 1.75:1 for both sites.

 

Draft Amendment to the DCP

On 5 December 2011, Council endorsed to publicly exhibit a draft amendment to the Ashmore DCP. This draft amendment seeks to update the Ashmore DCP to reflect the City’s preferred planning controls for the precinct as approved by Council and the CSPC to include in the draft City Plan.

Changes to building heights, FSR, the public domain and the car parking rates are proposed. These changes reflect the City’s proposed controls for the sites at 57 Ashmore Street and 165-175 Mitchell Road, not the planning controls that were required by the NSW Department of Planning and Infrastructure for the public exhibition of the draft City Plan.

The draft amendment to the Ashmore DCP is on exhibition until Wednesday 29 February 2012. You can view the draft amendment and supporting material at the ‘On Exhibition’ webpage on the City’s website. Details about the exhibition can also be found here.

Downloads

  • The following downloads give more detail on some of the urban design analysis carried out by the City to assess the impacts of the planning controls that were required by the NSW Department of Planning and Infrastructure.

More Information

John Davies
Specialist Planner
Tel: 02 9265 9873
Fax: 02 9265 9679
Email: jodavies@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au

 

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Last Updated: Friday 20 January, 2012

Please Note:
While care is taken to ensure accuracy, the City of Sydney cannot guarantee that information expressed here is correct and recommends that users exercise their own skill and care with respect to its use. The City of Sydney makes no warranty or undertaking, whether expressed or implied, nor does it assume any legal liability, whether direct or indirect.