Attachment 2 - Letter from Thomson Geer · 132007.12.8

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(a)   The increase in GFA (675m2, to a total of 6,729m2) is relatively small in terms of both m2
      and percentage. It is an increase of only 11.1% as compared to the current development
      approval (at 6,054m2), being far less than the scale of increases that have been allowed
      by the Court in the past (e.g. 30%). Moreover, the original 2008 approval contemplated a
      GFA of up to 6,304m2. The terms of that original approval, which were the subject of
      public notification, are a relevant matter for the Council to consider when assessing the
      proposed changes. This servers to further reduce the scale of the increase in relative
      terms;

(b)   With respect to the increased amount of GFA for Education non-contact area that is
      proposed (from 1,323m2 to 1,998m2), this increase is simply reflective of the increase in
      the GFA of the overall development (which, for the reasons noted above, is not an issue
      of concern). Moreover, this additional GFA will, in practice, serve as office and
      administrative space. Condition 12.4 of the current development approval already
      contemplates a potentially large amount of this office space, so the additional Education
      office space does not represent a significant change to the terms of the current
      development approval;

(c)   The first two levels of the new structure will comprise of car parking, being an identical
      use to what was proposed for this area as part of the original 2008 approval;

(d)   The new structure at the north-west of the overall land will be well set back from the
      property boundaries (3m on all sides), ensuring impacts on adjoining properties are
      appropriately mitigated. Moreover, this setback is identical to the boundary setbacks for
      the multi-level carpark that was proposed for this area as part of the original 2008
      approval, meaning that the new structure has the same basic bulk (in terms of its length
      and width) and setback as has previously been approved for this area;

(e)   The new structure will have a maximum height of RL17.5m (the lift overrun) and a roof
      with a maximum height of RL16.3m (where there is no third storey the maximum roof
      height will be lower still). In this regard:

      (i)     The current built form on the land extends to a height of RL18.1m in parts, so this
              new structure will be lower than the existing maximum height for the approved
              development;

      (ii)    That maximum height (i.e. the lift and its overrun) is located as far as is
              reasonably practicable from the residences that adjoin the land to the west and
              closer to the centre of the land, reducing the appearance of that part of the built
              form to those residences and all other external observers;

      (iii)   The three storey component of the new structure is a minimum of 14m away from
              the boundary to those residences. Furthermore, the first storey of the new
              structure is located partially below ground. As such, the predominant view from
              the adjoining residential area will be of a 2 storey structure, not a 3 storey
              structure;

      (iv)    The original 2008 approval contemplated a multi-storey car park in this area that
              had a height of up to 10.5m above ground level (i.e. 3 storeys). This is generally
              consistent with what is now proposed for this area and, as noted with respect to
              the comments in paragraph (a), above, this consistency is a relevant matter for
              the Council to consider in its assessment of the changes that are now proposed;

(f)   Having regard to paragraphs (d) and (e), the new multi-storey building is consistent with
      what has previously been contemplated by the development approval, is consistent with
      what is already approved/constructed on the land and does not represent a significant
      change to the development. It cannot be said that this new structure will "dramatically
      change the built form in terms of scale, bulk and appearance";




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