Frasers Property - Community Consultation

Community Consultation

Frasers Property understands that there is a high level of interest in the site and how it is to be developed, therefore consultation will form an important input into developing detailed plans for the site.

Frasers wishes to work with local residents, neighbours and stakeholders. Frasers will be meeting with local stakeholders and neighbours over the coming months to better understand their interest in and concern for the site.

There is no specific requirement for further community consultation on the project to occur, other than input into the design of the open space and public domain. However, Frasers recognise the importance of continuing to work closely with those who have an interest in the site and will be consulting on the detail of the various project applications will occur within the parameters established by the approved concept plan.

Public participation in the development of the open space and public domain will occur as part of the detailed design process. In addition to this, Frasers will work closely with local neighbours and residents to help reduce potential impacts of the work on the site.

Introducing your community relations contact during demolition and recycling works

Frasers is strongly committed to being a considerate neighbour during demolition and recycling works and all future works on site. We aim to keep our neighbours informed, mitigate impacts where possible, listen to your queries and concerns and respond to you as soon as possible during pre-demolition and demolition works.

We have appointed Graeme Soward as the community relations officer who will work with members of the immediate community prior to and throughout demolition. Graeme has a thorough working knowledge of large development projects and an understanding of the needs of residents, gained through extensive experience in community liaison on a range of similar projects.

Graeme’s primary role is to provide assistance and information on site activities on a day-to-day basis for members of the community who live, work or study in the immediate vicinity of the site. This is roughly within 50 metres of Frasers Broadway, including the following streets: Abercrombie St (north of Queen St), Balfour St (north of Queen St), Dick St, Goold St, Kensington St, O’Connor St, Outram St, Queen St, Regent St and Wellington St.

Members of the community, who live in the area above, can contact Graeme by emailing community@frasersgreencliff.com. We are currently also setting up a freecall phone number for you to contact Graeme and we will advise you when this is available.

Other interested members of the community with queries about the redevelopment can continue to email broadway@elton.com.au or call Caline at Elton Consulting on (02) 9387 2600.

November Community Workshops

The second stage of Fraser’s community consultations for the Broadway site was held over a three day period in November – Thursday 15 to Saturday 17. The purpose of the consultation was to bring together the entire project team, including architects, sustainability academics, transport experts and urban designers for the first time.

Representatives from international architect firms Foster + Partners, Ateliers Jean Nouvel and landscape architect Jeppe Aagaard Andersen joined with Australian architects from Johnson Pilton Walker, Tonkin Zulaikha Greer, Tzannes and landscape architect Turf Design over the three days to gain a better understanding of the key issues and significance of the Frasers Broadway site. Frasers has approached these firms to be involved in an intensive design excellence process over the coming year and is currently finalising the firms’ appointments.

The consultation provided an opportunity to get together for the first time and drill down on the important issues. The consultation activities incorporated:

A tour of the immediate area with members of local Chippendale community groups – including the Friends of the Carlton and United Brewery site (FoCUS) – and immediate neighbours
A day-long agency workshop involving a range of NSW Departments, the City of Sydney and neighbouring educational institutions
An interactive workshop for members of the community to discuss key elements of the site with the project and design team.

The purpose was to better understand the site, develop innovative ideas and to generate discussion around design options in the following areas:

Traffic, access and mobility
Design and architecture
Public domain and neighbourhood including open space and heritage
Environmental and social sustainability.

The comments will have a direct input in the preparation of the all-important project briefs for the architectural and design team – documents which form the foundation of the plans for the next stage of the development.

We’ve presented a broad cross-section of issues and responses here and will provide a full report of outcomes from the sessions on this website over the coming weeks.

At a question/answer session with members of the community, the project team heard the following key issues from the community:

Issue	Comments from community members
Traffic and mobility	• Car minimisation and reduction of traffic generation is critical • Support of shared basements/ car spaces if these lead to reduction of surface traffic and create streets that are attractive and amenable public spaces.
Sustainability	• Members of the community strongly believed that the development should strive to achieve an exemplary green result that balances sustainability and development objectives.
Heritage	• Members of the community were open to discussion on the future of heritage at the Abercrombie and Broadway precincts, to preserve the scale of Kensington street and reduce density along the interface with Chippendale • Open to exploring innovative integration of heritage and new buildings.
Public domain	• Members of the community felt that the development should respond to the grain and edginess of Chippendale • They felt that the development should strive to integrate existing and new communities and ensure broad public access to facilities / infrastructure and services on site. Some members of the community referred to their proposal for integrated active transport zones – the Parkway proposal • Importance of community gardens • Streetscapes – they felt that the current concept plan creates a wall along Abercrombie St.
Design and architecture	• Community members wanted to see a world class outcome in architecture and place-making • They had concerns about floor space ratios and impacts of building bulk and scale • They emphasised the importance of ensuring that the development and surrounding streets have access to sunlight and that people are able to see the sky • They highlighted the importance of vistas through and between buildings – the elements of surprise and discovery • The felt that diversity in ground floor uses were critical to creating a sense of vibrancy and liveability.

At the agency and Council workshop, government officers responded to the issues raised by the community, as follows:

Issue	Responses from agency and Council officers
Traffic and mobility	• Examine the option for shared basements to reduce surface traffic, improve pedestrian and public domain amenity and deliver sustainability benefits • Aim to reduce car parking on site over time • Review proposed street pattern including existing entry and exit points.
Social sustainability	• Need for social integration of existing and new residents • Understanding and addressing the needs of the diverse communities who will have a role to play in the site • Explore the synergies between Frasers Broadway and surrounding sites, especially the largest neighbour UTS.
Heritage	• Strive for flexibility and innovation in the treatment of heritage buildings and items to ensure their ongoing relevance • Consider heritage in the context of the site as whole, not just individual items.
Public domain	• Look at options to increase the quantum, quality and activation of the public domain • Public domain to be considered in relation to building design, uses at the ground plane and the needs of the people who will be using it • Continue to work with City of Sydney to deliver the park, public roads and community facilities.

Community information sessions and site tours September 2007:

On 26th and 29th September 2007, we ran two successful community information sessions and a round of tours of the Frasers Broadway site. These events were attended by approximately 170 people from the immediate and surrounding areas – we were very pleased to see so many people come along. Many of you raised important questions about what Frasers is doing to minimise the impact of this development, particularly in the areas of:

Environmental and social sustainability: particularly initiatives to minimise energy and water consumption and support social sustainability
Traffic and transport: managing traffic flow into, out of and around the site and surface traffic on site, minimising car usage and traffic generation and encourage walking and cycling
Parks and open space: particularly how the community can influence the design of these areas
Buildings: attendees had a number of specific ideas in relating to building design, density and usage
Site clearing and recycling: attendees wanted to know more about how Frasers intends to work cooperatively with the site's immediate neighbours during site clearing and recycling
Interface of the development to Chippendale: in particular the interface between Block nine and Kensington St and Block 11 and Wellington St
Proposed Kensington Lane arts precinct: attendees wanted us to examine this idea in more detail; it had broad appeal based on a combination of creating something special for the area, the introduction of night life and positive impact on the immediate area and surrounds
Ongoing consultation: consultation opportunities and mechanisms as planning and development of the site progresses.

Frasers is currently working with the ideas you raised through the sessions to see how these issues can be addressed in our planning and design for the project. We are still in the early stages of planning and design and we have started to make headway on a number of initiatives. We will continue to refine our approach through consultation with the community and other stakeholders and examinations of what is feasible for the site.

To see the information that was available at the sessions, please click on the links below:

Overall project information

1. Welcome and consultation parameters
[PDF 724KB]
2. Who is Frasers and our vision for the site
[PDF 982KB]
3. The site and approved concept plan
[PDF 1.24MB]
3A. Indicative precinct plan (image)
[PDF 655KB]