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In February 2010 I posted about community action to save Hoskins Park in Dulwich Hill from a 3-storey development of 11 town houses next door that would remove 15 trees & which would ‘loom over’ Hoskins Park. Two development applications were submitted & both were refused. Council cited non-compliance with local planning controls & the huge community opposition to the development as reasons for refusal. The Marrickville Heritage Society also put in a submission against the development, particularly the intent to demolish two 1920s houses.
It was regarded as an overdevelopment back then & now another DA has been submitted, this time almost twice the size at 20 units. Currently the site is zoned 2A – low residential density, prohibiting multi-level & mulit-unit residential development in the Hoskins Park area. Half of the 20 units will be affordable housing (20% off market rent for 10 years). Perhaps they are hoping that the affordable housing component will ensure that the zoning requirements are ignored & the DA gets approved?
In the latest DA they want to do the following –
- Demolish parts of the historic Brooks Lodge. This building is being considered for heritage listing.
- Demolish 34 & 36 Piggot Street, two Federation houses that appear to be in excellent condition. 36 Piggott Street in particular has its original features, tessellated tiles, chimney & stained glass windows.
- 3-storey units will overlook Hoskins Park. As the land is on the hill directly above Hoskins Park, which slopes down towards the Greenway, the units will indeed ‘loom over’ the park.
- They also want to remove a mature Melaleuca street tree on Denison Road & an Evergreen Ash (Fraxinus griffithii) street tree on Piggot street. New trees will be planted here when the development is completed.
- They want to remove 4 trees from the front formal garden of Brooks Lodge & replace with a formal garden of their own design. 3 of the trees are of significant size & at least one is visible on the skyline from Hoskins Park & surrounding streets. A Frangipani will be relocated somewhere else.
- 4 small to small-sized trees inside the property will be removed.
- 1 mature Canary Island Palm will be removed. At the very least this tree should be transplanted somewhere into the streetscape of Marrickville LGA or a few metres across the fence & replanted in Hoskins Park. These trees cost thousands of dollars to source & are great sources of food & habitat for many species of birds as well as flying-foxes. They also handle transplanting well.
- All up this DA seeks to remove 11 trees.

Healthy Canary Island Palm - instead of chopping it down, why not relocate it across this fence into Hoskins Park or at the Cooks River or into a traffic island or somewhere else in Marrickville LGA?
I personally think there is much to be concerned about with this DA apart from the unnecessary loss of trees. To remove 4 healthy mature trees in a formal garden of an historic house to create another formal design is totally unnecessary in my opinion. The loss of these trees will have a major impact on the skyline & the leafy feel of this area. It will be also removing food sources & habitat for urban wildlife. Throwing away the Canary Island Palm is dreadful.
Local community group ‘Save Hoskins Park’ believes that the development, should it be approved, will have a significant detrimental impact on both Hoskins Park & the character & amenity of surrounding streets. They need others in Marrickville LGA to help them preserve the amenity, privacy, unique character & view corridors of Hoskins Park by sending Marrickville Council a submission opposing this development. You can contact ‘Save Hoskins Park’ if you would like a draft submission to make it easier at – savehoskinspark@yahoo.com
The DA (DA201100201) can be viewed here – http://www.marrickville.nsw.gov.au/ePropertyProd/P1/PublicNotices/PublicNoticeDetails.aspx?r=%24P1.WEBGUEST&f=%24P1.ESB.PUBNOT.VIW&ApplicationId=DA201100201
The deadline for submissions is 12 noon 19th May 2011. Submissions can be emailed to – council@marrickville.nsw.gov.au
I made a short video of the trees that will be lost & the houses that will be demolished if this DA is approved – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_yiq__xpAk
& a short video of Hoskins Park – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CoNGNX09Vc
1. Marrickville Councillors will be voting on a DA soon which will see the demolition of 2 houses built in the 1920’s at 34-36 Piggott St Dulwich Hill, the conversion of the original area manor house built in the early 1880’s as well as the loss of 15 mature trees to build a 3 & 4 storeys development overlooking Hoskins Park. The local community is rallying to prevent this development. They believe the DA has many negative impacts on the community as well as destroying a green corridor & the green outlook of Hoskins Park. It is DA 201000022 & can be accessed via Council’s web-site.
2. The Manly Daily reported last week that Warringah Council removed a much-loved palm tree planted on the verge in Forestville without consulting the community. http://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/news/story/loved-palm-tree-gets-the-chop/ Interestingly, a cross was spray-painted on the tree’s trunk a few days before it
was chopped down. I note similar strange rune-like markings sprayed on a couple of the Hills Figs in Carrington Road Marrickville South. Were these put there by Council? Are Marrickville Council intending to remove these trees? I seem to remember 1 Fig tree was agreed to be removed for the new development which has recently commenced.
3. I wrote in the post Tempe Wetlands protest & trees at risk in Tempe that I would try to get further information about the mature trees at risk at the State Rail land in Edgar Street Tempe. Kerry, a local resident kindly left a comment (see comment roll) saying “I believe they (the trees) are under threat by the 27 townhouse development going in on the land next to the railway line. An underground car park & water tank retention system is to be built along the boundary line with the railway. At no stage have these trees been mentioned by the DA or State Rail or Marrickville Council’s tree officer.”
4. Sydney is getting it’s own 5.8 hectare Central Park at the old Carlton & United Brewery site at Broadway. This is a huge boon for the community on may levels & for Sydney’s urban wildlife. http://www.smh.com.au/national/central-park-off-broadway–thats-sydney-not-manhattan-20100209-notw.html
5. A little old as it was published last November. Hornsby Council intends to plant tree-lined boulevards with a councilor suggesting council create ‘immediate’ boulevards by planting trees which are already 4-5 metres tall. Wonderful if it happens & maybe cost effective considering the high loss of saplings Hornsby Council also experience. http://hornsby-advocate.whereilive.com.au/news/story/tree-lined-boulevardes-plan-for-hornsby/
6. City of Sydney Council recently planted numerous young trees along Glebe Point Road & some side streets. They used a porous hard substance to cover larger than average planting holes. The new street tree planting resulted in instant & significant greening of this already green street. Because of their size, I doubt they will be vandalized. It looks terrific.
7. The Star Tribune reported that a woman in Eden Prairie USA took to a tree service worker with a shot-gun to stop him chopping down a tree. We should never have this kind of action here. http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/homegarden/83607162.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU
8. The Home Owners Association in San Diego California will chop down in excess of 200 mature Eucalypts because 1 fell on a house recently. The residents are campaigning to prevent the removal of the trees saying they are prepared to live with the risk. You can read the story & watch a video which is an interesting look at their urban environment. http://www.760kfmb.com/Global/story.asp?S=11985277
9. World Forestry day is coming up on 21 March 2010. Many countries plant thousands of trees on this day. I don’t know as yet whether our Council is participating. The NSW Department of Industry & Investment has a range of activities planned – http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/forests/info/escape
10. Lastly, the NSW Department of Climate Change & Water has a great resource about threatened species which may be of interest to those of you are concerned about the Bandicoots at Lewisham. http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspecies/index.htm & http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/Search/QuickSearch.aspx
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