January 2018 Update
The Land & Environment court has rejected the application in a judgement handed down on the 21st November 2017.
You can read the judgement by clicking on this link
We understand the council is now seeking legal cost against the developer and one of our NRA member has written to council seeking confirmation that council will ensure that unapproved works will need to be altered so as to comply with the Development Approval.
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April 2017 Update
The conciliation conference held in May 2016 was not determined and so the matter went to a court hearing held on the 29th & 30th November commencing with an on-sight hearing and then adjourned to the court in Macquarie St Sydney. The hearing appears only to have addressed the relocation of the driveway from Barrenjoey Rd to the Boulevard in Newport. As at April 2017 Court determination of the matter is still awaited.
May 2016 Update
On the 18th May 2016 the Land & Environment court held a conciliation conference on site in Newport to review the principal changes of the access from Barrenjoey Rd and the creation of another shop in its place. Members of the NRA attended this conference but the outcome is unknown after it was moved to a closed session at the council chambers later that day. The court was only hearing the above mentioned limited matters whereas there were many more, presumably to be decided by the council.
April 2016 Update
The developers have lodged another S96(2) application so their changes now number 36 since approval by the L & E Court. We have made submissions against both S96 applications and they can be found under ‘Documents/Submissions’ in the Menu bar.
November 2015 Update
The developers finally got approval after a number of hearings and the development is well under way, however there are a number complaints with the developer making unauthorised changes, some of which they have currently sought to have approved after the fact by way of S96 application. We note the details below which have been included in a e-mail complaint to the council (refer to documents in the menu bar under ‘Correspondence Out’)
The developers of this site (old Caltex site) have Lodged a Sec 96 Application to move the driveway from Barrenjoey Rd to The Boulevard. (The Newport Residents Assn have not yet seen a copy although it is on your web site). It also appears the developer has already constructed a new driveway into The Boulevard without consent. The original approval was from the Court Orders of the L & E Court.
Some of the residents of The Boulevard are most upset by this unauthorised construction and are very concerned regarding the redirection of all traffic to that street, plus the obvious loss of parking.
This is a breach of court orders and we have requested Council consider taking action against the developer.
On the 30th November 2015 we lodged a formal objection and this may be viewed under Documents/Submissions in the Menu bar
Another of our members who has an adjoining unit on the North side on Barrenjoey Rd has also written to council regarding another breach as noted below;
“I wish to draw councils attention to the following work which has been carried out in complete contravention of the approvals.
The plans approved by the land and Environment court date 13 march 2004, copy attached ( appendix 2,3 &4) for your reference, clearly indicated that the 3rd level ( DA drawing DA-204, revision, E level 2 floor plan, East elevation and F, North Elevation along Barrenjoey rd) has a non accessible roof area which is screened by planter boxes from the adjacent building 326-330 Barrenjoey rd. The approval does not indicate any hand rails or alike being included. Also on this elevation all windows as clearly stated on the drawings are to be frosted glass, not clear glazed.
I have observed on inspection of the building progress ( 22 October 2015) the following,
1) An aluminium balustrade has been erected on the roof / non accessible area on the north or eastern elevation of the building, which in effect means this area has been converted to an accessible deck area. Copy of photo attached appendix .1)
2) Clear glazing has been installed to windows on the same face of the building as above.
Both of these issues will result in a complete loss of privacy to our unit, and was to a large extent the cause of our objections to the design of the development .”
The developers have also destroyed the old timber pedestrian bridge on ‘The Boulevard” and this was not part of the DA application
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Old Caltex Site Development Application – June 2014 update –
Over the last 18 months there have been two Land & Environment Court hearings on various inappropriate plans, in the opinion of the NRA, submitted for this site. The community spent a lot of effort in presenting submissions which we felt for the major part were accepted by Pittwater Council to the point where council endorsed the final DA submission with their determined variations. We have recently been notified that the Land & Environment Court has now approved the latest DA.
We further understand from one of our members that the site has subsequently been readvertised for sale, which seems to suggest that the developers were only interested in profit maximisation at the expense of the community standards.
