Sport and Wellbeing Centre, Roseville College

The college is a well established school that residents might expect to evolve over time. Hence, I don't object to sensitively designed 2 storey facilities being erected on land being used for active school activity (not just admin). However, the surrounding residents are entitled to have the existing curtilage of the school maintained and not to encroach on any further surrounding land. People buy into and live in these neighbourhoods knowing there is a school nearby, but the Government shouldn't agree to additional areas being developed for active school uses.

I am a parent of a daughter who attends Roseville College. My daughter has many years of education ahead of her and we are very excited about the proposed New Sport and Wellbeing Centre. My daughter loves cooking, tennis and swimming!

Currently Roseville College has a very old outdoor pool, which clearly limits the amount of swimming the students can do during the year, with the pool only being used during Term 1 and Term 4. My daughter only does swimming lessons during those terms and misses out the rest of the year. With the proposed new indoor pool, the students will be able to learn to swim and train for fitness all year round! In addition, the current outdoor pool does not have a roof for parents to watch swimming lessons if it rains, and this caused major issues recently with the current Sydney stormy weather....with all of the parents huddling into a tiny corner of the pool area. The facilities are in major need of improvement.

Roseville College is in need of extra facilities to expand and enhance the current student offering, being a premium local private girls school. I have seen other schools like Ravenswood School for Girls expand their building footprint and it is not fair to hold other schools back.

I think what is proposed is relevant, reasonable and in keeping with continuous improvement of the school offering. As a local resident and parent of a child attending Roseville College, I would like to see this submission approved so Roseville College can move forward with this important project. I have every confidence that the project will be run with respect to the neighbouring residents and local community. Roseville College has maintained their current grounds to an absolutely impeccable standard, over the many years, and I have confidence that this new centre will be designed to complement the current school grounds and local environment.

For children to be able to enjoy extra-curricular activities and sport all year round in current technology / premium facilities is such a special and important part of their education and improves their health. A new pool, gym, food technology and sports courts will facilitate this. I encourage you to approve this submission and let the school invest in the future of our young girls education. Thank you for your time.

I would like to object to this big project. This project is not good for Roseville and Bancroft ave.
I object because:
1) The traffic and noise already is too much. If this project proceeds, it will create more noise and more traffic during the construction and post construction.
2) The project is too big, the development is not good for Roseville, it will be an eye sore and is out of character with the local Roseville leafy suburb . It will destroy the beauty of Roseville in particular Bancroft Ave.
3) Destroying a dwelling within a Heritage Conservation area is not good for future conservation of the area.

We object to:
1. Demolition of a dwelling in a Heritage Conservation area Zoned R2 and subsequent change in zoning to Education
2. The scale of bulk of the proposed development is out of character with the local area and will adversely affect the character of Roseville and in particular the Roseville Conservation Area
3. The increased noise and volume of traffic during and after construction

My strong views are that the project should not proceed in its current proposed form. There should not be any rezoning of the area of 37 Bancroft Ave to 'Education' and the current Roseville Heritage Conservation Area should be maintained. The demolition of 37 Bancroft Ave should not be allowed to proceed. All Heritage conservation Areas should be protected into the future to retain the very important character of the area. The scope and size of the development is completely out of character with the neighbourhood and if allowed will, forever, alter the character of the neighbourhood. For a 3 storied development to be allowed is not in keeping with the current streetscape. Over the 20+ years we have lived in the area we have seen a significant increase in Bancroft Ave traffic volumes and the development will increase this even further to the detriment of all residents.

Re. Application No. SSD-9912
We live in the vicinity or Roseville College and have had two daughters attend the school. We have thus watched its ongoing expansion over the past 30 years.
We understand that to remain viable the College must continue to expand and grow but we would like to comment on the current proposed development plan which in all probability will not be the last.
Our main concern is the lack of an overall traffic management plan for what is a very busy part of Roseville, especially as school drop off coincides with the peak hour commuter run to the city. Also traffic activity in the area has been compounded since Glencroft/Bancroft/Wandella are now a signposted cycleway.
We believe it's time for Roseville College to take more responsibility for the well being and safety of their students and local residents and ask that their planned development include a carriage way between Bancroft Ave. and Victoria St. on their site with a drop off/pick up zone for cars and buses. Thus we believe the considerable traffic congestion in Bancroft Ave would be considerable reduced.

Letter of Objection attached.

My family and I live in Lord St Roseville.

We object to the project in the following ways:

1. Proposal involves demolition and rezoning of a dwelling in a heritage conservation area. This changes the character of the area. There are few relatively intact conservation areas remaining in Sydney and this should be respected.
2. The proposal is of a large scale unsuited to the location. It is surrounded by single dwellings on large blocks.
3. Traffic around the school in Glencroft, Bancroft and even Lord St is already choked at key school operating times. The arterial roads around Roseville being Archibald St and Boundary St are among the most congested in Sydney.
4. Inadequate parking that should be accessed from Victoria St. More and more students, parents and staff drive to the school and park in the surrounding streets all day. Roseville should be residents only permit parking.

A public meeting should be called to allow a proper level of community input.

Yours sincerely
Bob Wheeldon

Please refer to attached submission which identifies issues with traffic, noise, landscaping and height of the proposal.

The development includes: • Demolition of a house in the Heritage Conservation Area (37 Bancroft Avenue) • Removal of most trees from the site • Construction of a Sports and Wellbeing complex, including tennis courts, swimming pool, gym, car parking – rising to approximately 11 metres above ground level at its Eastern end on Bancroft Avenue • Construction of large scale, 3 storey buildings which will dominate the area around the College

This development has the potential to create: • Precedent to allow re-zoning and demolition of dwellings in the Heritage Conservation Area • Significant traffic issues during and post construction • Significant detriment to the character of the area by virtue of the bulk and scale of the proposed buildings • Additional noise from activities conducted in and around the proposed development
I object to:
1. Demolition of a dwelling in a Heritage Conservation area Zoned R2 and subsequent change in zoning to Education
2. The scale and bulk of the proposed development is out of character with the local area and will adversely affect the character of Roseville and in particular the Roseville Conservation Area
3. The increased noise and volume of traffic during and after construction

My issues with this project are that:

1. It is within a conservation area. If I want to even prune a tree, let alone demolish a building, I have to apply to council and pay fees. There is no chance I could gain approval knock down my federation home. The rules should apply to all equally. My neighbour has recently done an extension and has gone to great expense to complete works in a manner that preserve the look of the building - even restoring parts that are unsafe. I cannot see why this project should be allowed to remove a federation dwelling when others are required to take extraordinary steps to preserve the look and feel of the streetscape.
2. The style, scale and bulk of the proposal is out of keeping with the area.
3. I have significant concerns about traffic during the works but even moreso post works. The state government has not come up with any solution to the school related traffic flowing on to Hill St and then to Boundary/Hill around school start and close. This is an issue for existing traffic, let alone that relating to works and the increase in traffic post works.

Before any approval, the school should be required to come up with a plan more in keeping with the neighbourhood in which it is situated and RMS come up with a viable traffic solution for the Hill/Boundary intersection during school pickup/drop-off.

I strongly object to the development and in particular 1.the demolition of a dwelling within a Heritage Conservation area Zoned R2 and subsequent change in zoning to Education.
2. The scale and bulk of the proposed development is out of character with the local area and will adversely affect the character of Roseville and in particular the Roseville Conservation Area.
3. The increased noise and volume of traffic during and after construction .

I would like to object to this project on the basis that this will involve a private residence (37 Bancroft Ave) in a Heritage Conservation zone which will be demolished. Not only this, but there will be subsequent rezoning of this dwelling.

I am also concerned about the deterioration in traffic conditions on this road, which is already congested and sometimes dangerous particularly during school hours.

Its scale is also of major concern, altering the streetscape.

My children did not attend Roseville College and neither do any of my grandchildren, HOWEVER, I am writing to support the proposed DA submission by the Roseville College. I strongly believe that we need to build adequate infrastructure to support a growing population and to provide 21st century amenities for the proper education of children of the future.
Past education facilities have served us well but now we need to build schools of the future and vertical design structure makes perfect sense even if it does not comply with dated planning regulation.

I believe this project to be a detriment to the Roseville community. The traffic is bad enough as it is due to the school, and this will make it worse. Also, I notice that they are using a residential home and converting it to a sports centre. Isn't this a rezoning issue? I thought this was a Heritage conservation area.

I am writing as a local resident of the Roseville area. I live two streets from Roseville college.
Whilst the college has and will continue to be an important part of our suburban community, it has done so without overly impinging on the suburban character of this part of Roseville. The form of the structure that is proposed will change that character considerably and will unduly and unfairly impact not only the surrounding dwellings but also the overall character and feel of the area.
The particular aspect I object to is the elevated "on roof" playing areas / tennis courts". This will be visually distasteful and will result in a far higher noise volume and enable the noise to transfer to surrounding dwellings and streets. This fails to take account of the right of surrounding neighbours to enjoy their residence in relative quiet during school hours. After school hours use is likely to be prominent - including on weekends.
Whilst such roof top developments may be appropriate in commercial areas, it is not appropriate in areas which are primarily suburban and where the college is the only no suburban development for a considerable distance on the Bancroft Avenue frontage.
My objection and request is that the development be amended to reduce the impact on surrounding houses and the community generally.

I object to the development and attach a submission setting out the reasons for objection

As a resident of Roseville and living close the the school, I am writing to support the project that Roseville College is undertaking. I believe that this will not only be beneficial for the school and the girls who attend the school, but also for the community. In an age where children's health is a major concern for our society, the fact that we have a school building a centre to help the girls with their health and fitness is only of benefit to our society. The school already has a small footprint in the community, compared to other schools and so they are maximising their small space for the good of the girls. With this project, it should establish a centre that can serve the school form many years to come, hence no need for more buildings. The school is active in the community and I believe that this project will help them to continue to be so. I do not think that it is too big and feel that those who are in the community and are complaining about this do not have the best needs of the girls or the community in mind, but rather their own concerns. We need to do what is best fo the community, rather than the individual and I believe that this project service our community well.

As a resident who is literally three doors away from the proposed development, I am very worried that this development will adversely impact our quality of life.
Such a large commercial style sports centre is totally inappropriate in a residential school zone. The underground drilling alone that would be required to facilitate an underground car park, plus a pool and gym is audacious and poses significant risk to our homes and community.

Our street is a heritage conservation area. Many of the homes in the area are protected in order to protect architecture of significance. The introduction of a large monolith would be seriously incongruous and not to mention ugly ! If I want to make some changes to the frontage of my home, I would need to jump through many hoops to satisfy a strict criteria therefore a structure made of glass and steel such as that proposed by Roseville college also deserves critical examination in terms of its potential detrimental impact on the beauty of our heritage area and the façade of the suburb. The proposed building is 4 levels above the current street level, which will quite literally tower over surrounding houses I refuse to believe that this structure will not adversely impact the privacy and our enjoyment of our own home, the public park and gardens.

Bancroft Avenue sits on a Riparian Zone. This is noted in all local council and NSW government planning maps and public summaries. In our property alone, several streams run underneath the ground and we are required to maintain a training wall on our own property (as imposed by the NSW Government) to mitigate flood risk. Its fantastical to suggest that a construction project of this size would not damage the riparian zones. The impact to environment would be extreme, and risk to our property heightened. Construction of this type and significance should not be permissible in this area.

The street is already at full capacity on school weekdays, both in relation to parking and foot traffic. The introduction of large construction vehicles and drilling equipment will pose significant risk to school students and residents. Small community areas are zoned this way for a reason – the infrastructure and streets surrounding, are not intended to accommodate large scale commercial operations and construction. We have significant concerns with the impact to traffic the construction would cause, but also the ongoing impact to traffic this Sports centre would provide all throughout the week and on the weekend.

Many of us work from home and significant construction would be detrimental to the enjoyment and use of our property – including noise disruption and the vertigo impacts from constant drilling and disruption.

In Summary, I believe that the applicant for this development has not properly considered the material points listed above in this letter of Objection, including the significant risk posed to the community and residents of Bancroft Avenue. The NSW Government must not permit the construction of this Project. If Roseville College seeks to build a sports centre of this magnitude, it should buy land elsewhere, not in the epi-centre of a heritage community zone, that sits on Riparian flood zones. If this project is allowed to proceed in the current form thus ignoring the genuine interests local residents then this affected and other sympathizers would be forced to organize before the next set of elections as is their democratic right to express their displeasure at the next election !

I appreciate contribution of Roseville college not only in academics but in overall development of the pupils enrolled.
I believe the proposed property re-development will equip the institution to further its contribution towards educational and spiritual development of the students.
Hence, I support the re-development proposal.