Amendments to the original planning proposal for a 12-storey Gungahlin residential tower called The Establishment "inspired by Chicago's industrial warehouse scene" have been rejected by the ACT government.
The amendments proposed by the co-developers, Geocon and Empire Global, added a further 20 units, communal facilities including a pool and spa, an extra 27 parking spaces and an overall 360 square metre increase in gross floor area.
However, the amendments did not address one of the key concerns by the neighbouring YMCA Canberra child care centre, which would share a driveway with the new tower.
The concerns centred around the tight confines of the shared driveway access. YMCA Canberra claimed that without a reversing bay or U-turn area for heavy vehicles, this presented a safety risk.
Support was provided by the ACT's child care regulatory authority on this concern. A meeting was held between the YMCA Canberra and the developers, but an agreement was unable to be reached.
Geocon managing director Nick Georgalis said that this matter had been resolved in the original application. He was unable to be reached by The Canberra Times for comments regarding the rejection of the amended development.
In its submission to the amended proposal, the ACT's Children's Education and Care Assurance commented that the shared driveway and carparking posed "a significant risk to child safety".
It said the driveway width of 6.225 metres "appears fairly narrow for the significant number of vehicles using this driveway and the traffic that is required to back out and turn around".
It also anticipated "that the majority of traffic from the 280 apartments and 30 additional car parking spaces (possibly over 300 cars) will greatly increase the traffic flow at peak times during YMCA Gungahlin drop-off and pick-up times".
It also expressed concern over the shadow cast by the tower over the children's playground.
Other objections included insufficient planting and/or landscaping, potential traffic queues out of the basement car park, the design and insufficiency of car parking, no short stay spaces for delivery drivers, and a reduction in privacy and sunlight for residents.
