Waverley War Memorial Hospital

Background

The War Memorial Hospital (WMH) site is bound by Birrell Street, Carrington Road, Church Street and Bronte Road. The site has been the subject of two planning proposals. The first, the WMH Campus Planning Proposal covers the larger portion of the site as identified in Figure 1, and the WMH Birrell Street Planning Proposal covers the smaller portion.

The two planning proposals involve amendments to the Local Environmental Plan that will result in changes to the planning controls and uses allowable on the site. The planning proposal has been prepared by Council as a result of a request made by the applicant (Ethos Urban on Behalf of Uniting).

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Figure 1:  Diagram identifying Campus and Birrell Street planning proposals

The proposals

The planning proposals put forward changes to the planning controls for the site and amends the Waverley Local Environment Plan 2012 to:

  • create an incentivised Alternative Building Heights of 15m and 21m
  • create an incentivised Alternative Floor Space Ratio of 1.2:1

The incentive building heights and floor space ratio will only be available on the site on the basis that:

  • clause 6.9 Design Excellence in the Waverley Local Environmental Plan 2012 applies
  • 30% of the Campus site is provided as deep soil area
  • affordable housing (on the Birrell Street site only) which amounts to either 10% of any dwellings or 404 square metres (whichever is greater) is provided as part of any redevelopment on the site, and
  • any future development is provided to a high-performance building standard, to demonstrate best-practice sustainability by reducing water and energy usage on-site and minimising embodied carbon.

The intention of the proposal is to:

  • provide essential social infrastructure for health-related uses and seniors housing,
  • retain and enhance the unique heritage and environmental significance of the site, and
  • open the site up to the public to encourage a greater level of community engagement with the heritage fabric and open space on the site.

Site-specific Development Control Plan

The planning proposals are supported by a site-specific Development Control Plan (DCP), which will provide specific design guidance to any future development in relation to; building design, building layouts, building setbacks, relationship with nearby heritage items, waste management, parking and traffic management, landscaping and urban ecology.

Council previously sought feedback on the draft site-specific DCP between 20 May to 4 July 2021. Council officers are currently reviewing the draft site-specific DCP with regards to both the feedback received, and in-line with a Council resolution at the 17 August 2021 Council meeting. This matter will be reported to Council at a later date, following the completion of the review.

WMH Campus Planning Proposal

The WMH Campus Planning Proposal was exhibited between 20 May to 4 July 2021. This proposal was supported by Council at the November 2020 Strategic Planning and Development Committee and was submitted to the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) for assessment. The DPIE determined to finalise the proposal, and the changes relating to the campus portion of the site were made to the Waverley Local Environmental Plan 2012 on 29 October 2021.

WMH Birrell Street Planning Proposal

The WMH Birrell Street Planning Proposal is currently on exhibition between 10 November to 22 December 2021. Feedback received on the planning proposal during the public exhibition period will be reviewed by Council officers before being reported to Council in the first half of 2022, should you provide feedback, you will be provided with an update when the matter is reported to Council and following the decision of Council. To view the documents on exhibition, and to have your say, click here

Next steps

Following the exhibition of the planning proposal, Council officers will review community feedback and prepare a recommendation to Council. Council will consider the proposal, the community feedback and the Council officer’s recommendation. They will decide to support or not support the proposed changes. Council’s decision and justification will then be forwarded to the DPIE, who will make the final determination on whether the plan will be made.

If the changes proposed are supported, then the draft site-specific DCP would need to be finalised, following further consideration by Council. A development application would still need to be submitted before any construction occurs. This step of the process will provide additional opportunities for the community to provide feedback on the detailed design.