Sydney's bohemian heartland Kings Cross is doomed to become just another dreary, drab suburban district if a controversial proposal to redevelop almost an entire block of buildings on the Golden Mile is given the go-ahead, angry residents have claimed.
"There'll be nothing there but a boring black dull insignificant set of buildings with no thought given to the history or personality of the Cross," 40-year resident David Polson told over 300 people who crushed into a public meeting on Thursday evening, which was called to protest the plan.
"The developer wants to take all the character of the area away and turn an iconic place for all Sydneysiders into another dreary suburban area that totally destroys all its charms."
The development application before the City of Sydney Council proposes demolishing four major buildings along Darlinghurst Road between the El Alamein Fountain in Fitzroy Gardens and the Empire Hotel - including the 1880s Bourbon, with its two storeys of white arches, Corinthian columns, verandahs and 19th-century tessellated tiles.
They will be replaced by an up to nine-storey block of 83 apartments with basement parking for 101 cars, and ground floor retail space. Sixty-six per cent of that area, as well as 80 per cent of the street frontage, will be taken up by two bars.
But furious residents voted unanimously to demand the council force developer Piccadilly Freehold to withdraw the application, then re-submit a more fitting design with fuller details.
"Go back to your drawing board and give us something that respects the streetscape and something that we can be proud of," Potts Point bookseller Dr Gavin Harris said.
"This plan seems to have no respect for height limits, the aesthetic of the area and our heritage."
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Representatives of the development company were invited to the meeting but said they were unable to attend because of holidays. The developer did not respond to Fairfax Media's request for a comment.
Previously, the developer described the plan as a massive revitalisation of a "decaying" part of the city and a transformation into a new food and entertainment complex, with laneways and luxury apartments. He felt the community would be supportive.
"There's no doubt that it will really significant add to, and improve, an area that has long been decaying," they said earlier. "Of course, some people will hate the idea of it, but others will love the fact we'll be renewing an area that's already in a state of transition."
While several local business owners were present during the meeting, and voted against the proposal, the official business association the Potts Point Partnership said it was in favour of the redevelopment.
"We would like to express a positive view of the development for the area," spokesperson Louise Shepherd said. "We think it will add vibrancy to the streetscape and the business proposed is a smart one and will benefit the business community."
Potts Point and Kings Cross Heritage and Residents Society president Andrew Woodhouse said the community was not against development per se - but as long as it added to the area, rather than destroyed it. "It needs to be an improvement, not just another money-motivated high-rise ticky-tacky block of glossy glass boxes," said Mr Woodhouse, who urged residents to object before the closing date of January 24.
"The current sites exist in the shadows of our rich history, the important story of our past. Instead this is what I call a leech-like building. It would suck the soul out of its urban context.
The meeting claimed the DA does not meet seven design excellence strategy (SLEP) clauses, eight heritage controls, height controls, eight design excellence provisions, two locality statement requirements, three development control plans and a total of 40 planning controls. Further, it proposed that narrow Barncleuth Lane behind the block become a two-way road, and stated that one-way traffic along Roslyn Street go the wrong way.
Independent State MP for Sydney Alex Greenwich said it should be considered no coincidence the value of the Woods Bagot-designed redevelopment was put at $47.5 million, when it had recently been mandated that new planning bodies deal with any schemes under $50 million.
"So the decision is made independently of council," he said. "Yet we want design excellence and buildings that add to the diversity and heritage of the Cross and this proposal doesn't do this. We have massive concerns about the bulk and scale of this and traffic implications."
Everyone at the meeting agreed unanimously to reject the proposal, to call on the council to work with the developer and community on revising the design for a world-class quality alternative, and to establish a local plan for Kings Cross.
Construction is set to take three to four years, with demands for compensation likely from neighbouring businesses.
