Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. I didn’t know Get Up did petitions – why did you use Get Up?
A1. Get Up is Australian. What’s more, the previous National Director of Get Up, Simon Sheikh and his wife, lived in Coogee. They both signed the hard-copy petition about the proposals for the Coogee Bay Hotel site back in 2009. We like to think it was from that, that Get Up got the idea of offering a petition platform. Who knows!!
Q2. Why 12m?
A2. Randwick’s Local Environment Plan 2012 (LEP) has a 12m height limit for areas in the Foreshore Scenic Protection area and that includes the site of the proposed development. This proposal is for a building that has a height of 23.3m almost twice the legislated height. The Randwick LEP, like all local Council LEPs, are legal instruments under NSW state legislation.
Q3. What about other buildings on the site that are higher than 12m – how come they were approved?
A3. The Boutique Hotel has a pitched roof which at its point is 19m. This was built in 1997 before Randwick had its LEP. [It should be noted that the 19m is a roof point whereas the 23.3m extends the length of Vicar St from the southern boundary of the hotel site all the way to Coogee Bay Road. This U shaped building then extends along Coogee Bay Road to the current hotel and, on the south, along the southern boundary.]
Q4. What about the Crowne Plaza building?
A4. The Coogee Bay Hotel site is in the valley floor of Coogee bay. That is a key difference with the Crowne Plaza site which is higher up on the beginning of the ridge out of the bay. The Government Architect in his report of the previous proposals for the site in 2010, emphasises the importance of the valley floor location particularly with respect to the visual impact on the foreshore. He concludes that “the site’s location on the valley floor of Coogee Bay require strict controls on height”(p.21).
[As an aside, those who have been on a Coastal Walk with Professor Bruce Thom will know that the river system of Coogee is the most ancient on the planet, deriving from when the continent that is now Australia was connected to Antarctica.]
Q5. Coogee as a "village" – where does that come from?
A5. Coogee was proclaimed a village in 1838 in the colony of NSW and is one of the earliest if not the earliest seaside village in Australia. More recently The East Regional Structure Plan (2007) defines Coogee as a “village”. The Randwick Local Character statement also reiterate that Coogee is a village. Many local businesses promote Coogee as a seaside village in their promotional material as does the Coogee Chamber of Commerce. Most importantly local residents and visitors alike recognise and value Coogee’s village look and feel and low-key ambience especially when compared with other urban beachside areas of Sydney and Australia.