The Star Entertainment Group will have to redraw the plans for its casino in Sydney after the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) rejected the hotel tower proposal.
According to the plan, Star Sydney would have gotten a new addition which is a massive hotel tower that would supposedly attract many visitors and job seekers alike. But with the rejection from the IPC, the team needs to rethink its strategy. More like going back to the drawing board.
The hotel tower idea entailed a huge vertical column that would be a contrast to all the other low-lying structures of Star Sydney. The proposal, however ambitious, was not supported by all members. In fact, most of them opposed the plans.
Among those who were in support of the plan was Glady Berejiklianwas the New South Wales (NSW) Premier. Even with her autonomous support, the plans did not push through.
Those in opposition of the hotel tower plans were headed by the NSW Planning Department and seconded by Mayor Clover Moore. Berejiklianwas’ intervention was to enquire about the Greater Sydney Commission for a review of the planning and development rules. This she wanted to be done in order to confirm if the plans were in line with the government’s vision for a clear future.
As for the IPC, the massive hotel tower plan did not fit the vision and thus saw fit to reject it. Their reason for rejection was that the 777-foot tower was not consistent with the site’s current strategic planning as well as locality. The tower also did not promote good use of land and its development.
Sydney Lord Moore is content with the IPC decision and considered it a win for the community. He explained that the proposed plan would have violated the planning system integrity and thus its rejection has conserved the planning system. In his words, this would be straying from the planning controls in NSW history.
He added that the proposed tower would have been eight times more than the planning controls requirements. The hotel tower would have included 35 storeys of residential apartments on the site that had been zoned for commercial activity. Therefore, the tower would have overshadowed the parkland as well as other public spaces.
For that reason, the rejection of the plan not only preserved the planning systems but also the community. In regard to this, it instilled fairness as it catered for the community’s affairs.
On its part, the IPC confirmed that their rejection of the proposed hotel tower was geared by the fact that the project’s public benefits failed to outweigh the negative impact on the area as a whole. This clearly sums up the reason why the IPC so it fit to agree with the NSW Planning Department.
Star Entertainment expressed their disappointment after the IPC rejection. According to CalvinAyre.com, the company is “still digesting” the bad news. The officials also added that they were hopeful that the rejection was not a lost opportunity for Star Sydney.
