Minister vetoes FREE centre rezoning
WAVERLEY mayor Sally Betts has confirmed an offer is still on the table to find an alternative site at reduced rent for the Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe (FREE) community centre.
WAVERLEY mayor Sally Betts has confirmed an offer is still on the table to find an alternative site at reduced rent for the Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe (FREE) community centre.
NSW Planning Minister Brad Hazzard last week blocked a referral to the Planning Assessment Commission (PAC) initiated by his predecessor Tony Kelly for the rezoning of the Maccabi tennis courts in Wellington Street, Bondi, where FREE wants to build.
“In line with the NSW Government’s priorities for the planning system, the decision on whether or not to proceed with the planning proposal is the responsibility of council as the local planning authority,” Hazzard wrote to the PAC.
This means Waverley Council’s rejection of the rezoning from November last year stands.
When initially rejecting the proposal, the council made clear it supported FREE’s aspirations to build a community centre, and that it would help in looking for a suitable location to be offered at a “peppercorn rent”.
A closed section of Beach Road adjoining Old South Head Road in Bondi was suggested in March as a possible alternative.
When contacted by the The AJN this week, Councillor Betts confirmed the offer still stood.
“They weren’t ecstatic about the site originally,” the mayor said of FREE’s response. “[But] we would be happy to continue negotiating with the Lands Department to see if they would be happy to offer it at a reduced rent.”
FREE spokesperson Ruvien Morrison declined to comment when contacted by The AJN this week.
But he has previously said there were “potential problems” with the Beach Road site, including a lack of parking, its proximity to the adjacent Mizrachi Synagogue and concerns over how high the centre could be built on the site.
The rejected Wellington Street proposal was to include a three-level community centre, with 30 apartments to be built at the rear of the site, which would subsidise the centre’s costs.
The plan was rejected after a campaign by neighbouring residents, who were concerned about the impact on the surrounding area. The Maccabi Tennis Cub recently returned to operating the tennis courts on Wellington Street.
GARETH NARUNSKY
Waverley mayor Sally Betts
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