Coogee Bay Hotel redevelopment heads to court
The $122 million redevelopment of the Coogee Bay Hotel site will head to the Land and Environment Court this week amid strong opposition from the council and residents.
C!NC Hotels had planned an apartment building almost twice the maximum height limit and was to bulldoze live music venue Selina’s in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
The owner had no plans to destroy the heritage-listed hotel, however it would sit aside a new six-storey building with 60 apartments, a private swimming pool and ground floor supermarket and shops.
Opponents feel the redevelopment will negatively impact Coogee’s village atmosphere and ruin residents’ beach views.
Noise and traffic issues were also highlighted with a 220-space underground car park also planned.
A new café and dining precinct to rival Coogee and Bondi were also mooted.
The Land and Environment Court heard cases today after it ordered the developer and Randwick City Council into conciliation.
The developer had appealed the “deemed refusal” of the development application by a planning panel.
Redevelopment rejection is a trend for the beachside venue. In 2009, a nine-storey redevelopment of the pub was rejected, with the NSW government architect finding it was too big.
“It would be inappropriate for us to comment further on the matter while the court process is ongoing,” a spokeswoman for CiNC said.
“The developer needs to comply with council’s development standards,” Randwick mayor Dylan Parker said. “This mammoth proposal does not even come close.”
Greens councillor Michael Olive criticised the plan to incorporate a shopping centre as part of the redevelopment.
“Traffic is already a problem in Coogee and I can’t imagine how 12-metre long delivery trucks will operate in Vicar Street and on busy Arden Street, let alone adding all of the other traffic this will bring,” he said.
Spokesman for community group Keep Coogee A Village Ryan Elliott said, the proposal was “a gross overdevelopment and wildly outside carefully considered planning controls”.
Irit Jackson, 2nd August 2022
