housing
27 Grosvenor and 26 Grenville Streets; Childcare Centre Size and Parking Reduced
City Council approved a mixed-use tower project in 2021 with a non-profit childcare centre. The developer now seeks to reduce the childcare centre's required interior floor area from 685 to 640 square metres and on-site parking spaces from 6 to 3, citing more efficient single-floor design that increases capacity from 49 to 62 children. A resident deputant raised concerns about emergency muster points, groundwater testing, wind impacts, tree removal, and prior unmet community benefits.
From the floor
“The decision report acknowledges that residents use the proposed development area as a primary muster point during fire alarms. So where is the replacement? Where do hundreds of residents assemble during construction? Where do we assemble permanently afterward?”A resident
“The hydrogeeological record says no wells were drilled on site. No on-site groundwater sample was collected and on-site bore holes and monitoring wells are still required. They studied the ground beside the site, but they have not yet drilled the ground they actually want permission to excavate.”A resident
“Under the proposed 41-story tower, that entrance exceeds the standing criterion in spring and winter. And even in the tested mitigation scenario, the deterioration remains. Not unsafe is not the same as unchanged. Technically acceptable is not the same as no worse off.”A resident
“The arborist record shows that at least 31 of 33 regulated removals are driven by the development and associated works. So where's the before and after heat analysis? After mature canopy and open ground are lost. Where's the study of sunlight, glare or heat reflected from a 41-story facade back onto the occupied building beside it.”A resident
“When we hear the word community benefit, we have every right to ask benefit for whom? Because so far, we have only witnessed a farce.”A resident
Also in this item
• Resident deputant raised unresolved concerns: emergency evacuation muster point replacement not addressed, on-site hydrogeological testing not yet conducted, wind impact mitigation incomplete, and 31 of 33 tree removals driven by development rather than tree health.
• Childcare capacity increases from 49 to 62 children despite 45 square metre interior reduction, achieved by moving to single-floor design and relocating three pick-up/drop-off spaces to adjacent public right-of-way layby.
The journey
Decision
Childcare centre interior gross floor area reduced from 685 to 640 square metres; on-site parking spaces for childcare use reduced from 6 to 3 spaces. Section 37 Agreement terms amended accordingly.
On video
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