Why would over seventy local people, residents and business owners, crowd into a large tent inside the old Nally factory on a cold August night? Its a long story and one that has implications for everyone in the area and in the whole of Marrickville municipality.

The Simpson Park Triangle Residents Group had asked Marrickville Council to organise a public meeting to clarify questions regarding an application to re-zone the site of the old Nally factory on the corner of May Street and the Princes Highway

This proposal before Council includes an application for "redevelopment for serviced appartments with ancillary facilities and for residential flat buildings". and to "demolish the existing improvements and erect a six part seven storey with lofts group of residential structures on the Princes Highway frontage and 4 X 3-storey and loft buildings on the Applebee Street frontage. Off street car parking for 214 parking spaces is proposed in 1.5 basement levels."

These quotations are from the letter of notification sent to people in Applebee, Hutchinson and Lackey Streets. The Triangle Residents Group advised Council that residents from other surrounding streets had a legitimate interest in the proposal and should be invited to the meeting.

On the night it was standing room only as the developer, a Mr Greg Gav of Mars Developments, his adviser Larry Hand of Leichhardt and the team of architects and consultants presented their case. We were stunned at the sheer scale of the proposed development - in the slides we were shown it towered over the area, dominating the whole landscape including the heritage chimneys in Sydney Park. It might be appropriate in Manhattan but the general feeling seemed to be that it was too big for St Peters.

Questions established that this building towers at least 20 metres above street level and would contain over 200 flats. Construction of the parking levels would require extensive excavation with all the noise and dust that involves. The "porte-cochere" (we learnt that this is the trendy new word for a driveway big enough to take large trucks and buses) would occupy most of the footppath between Applebee Street in the highway making pedestrian access to Sydney Park much more difficult.

Heritage vconcerns were raised at the meeting. St Peters is one of Sydney's oldest suburbs and has one of the city's most prominent heritage landmarks, the chimneys of the old brickworks. A familiar sight to the thousands who drive past each day, these chimneys are also an important part of the cityscape for many residents to the south. However these views may be lost if Mars Developments has its way. The heritage of the area must not be forgotten and any new strategic plan for the area would need to ensure that new developments did not overshadow, dominate or intrude upon existing communities and streetscapes.

Goodsell Street residents were worried by the proposal to close off the right hand turn from May Street into May Lane which would make their homes virtually inaccessible by car. They also questioned the drainage implications; May Lane is like a small river in heavy rain and of course we are all aware of the problems with flooding in front of the Town and Country Hotel.

It was not only the appearance of the building that concerned those present. What would be the effect of this additional load on the local infrastructure. on traffic, drainage or as one lady said "What happens to our already overloaded sewers when all those 200 plus flats flush their toilets?

The developer tried to reassure residents that the increase in traffic would not be a problem. "not more than 50 vehicles an hour at peak times", that is almost one vehicle per minute and the narrow streets in this area are already struggling to cope.

It was felt there were some positive aspects to the proposal. Many present were in favour of residential re-zoning but were not pleased withthe idea that it be done on a site by site basis. This proposal is for re-zoning the old Nally site only, everything else would remain industrial if this proposal were adopted.

However something positive may come out of it if it opens the idea up for discussion. Many present at the meeting seemed very interested in the idea of residential re-zoning for the whole triangle bounded by May Street, Campbell Street and Crown St/Sydney Park but only a piecemeal rezoning of the block was proposed by the developer.

As Ross Daddo of the Neighbourhood Centre says "We have zoning laws so that the community can expect development to proceed with a degree of consistency - to re-zone on a site by site basis makes a nonsense of any planning strategy and is contemptuous of the community which has helped develop that strategy." It seems that the proposed building complies with neither the height limits nor the floor space ratio guidelines established by Marrickville Council. These facts must be taken into account when the proposal is considered by council

However it is important that any changes are properly though out, and applied in a transparent and open process over the whole area, not piecemeal, lot by lot, at the whim of developers. The current proposal, to dump over 200 flats into the middle of an industrial area, seems like a recipe for conflict. Care is needed to ensure that the infrastructure, (roads, drains, sewers, etc) is not overloaded. Approval must ensure that new buildings blend in to existing streetscapes rather than Quality must be assured so that we do not find ourselves with tomorrow's slums on our doorsteps.

With amenities such as Sydney Park, St Peters Railway Station and the highway at the door it may well be time for Council to consider allowing residential redevelopment in St Peters. However they should be of a size and scale consistent with existing homes. New developments must enhance the area so that property values are not eroded and owners of small factories have the choice of remaing here or investing in residential redevelopment sympathetic to the area and so fund retirement or a move to a more up to date industrial area which will allow them room to expand.

However they must not be forced out. The unique mix of residents and industry has a long history in our area and gives it a very special atmosphere (especially the dogfood and chutney factories) Planning must take into account this mixed industrial/residential character so that future occupants, residential and industrial, can co-exist harmoniously

At the meeting undertakings were given that the plans, the model, shadow diagram and any other relevant information would be put on display locally for us to see so that we could make meaningful submissions to Council before they meet to decide on the proposal. A list of questions was collated and answers to these were to be made available. To date we have heard nothing.

Simpson Park Triangle Residents' Association -> History of development of No 1 Princes Highway