Fax to Alan Jones AO from Lesli Berger

To: Alan Jones AO

From: Lesli Berger, Fivex Commercial Property

Re: Sustainable Development at Double Bay

Date: 8 November, 2006

Dear Alan,

Thank you for taking an interest in our sustainable commercial development at 376-382 New South Head Road, Double Bay.

Sustainable Initiatives

As discussed on site we are harvesting rainwater for potable water uses, recycling sewage for grey water use and have cut over 150 tonnes of greenhouse gases as a result of our many and varied sustainable design features. We spent about five hundred thousand dollars on the sustainable elements of our development out of a total construction cost of $5 million.

Unfortunately, we have not received any government assistance for our initiative; in fact, we have faced two extraordinary obstacles put forward by Woollahra Council and Energy Australia. From my experience, Governments merely pay lip service to sustainable development and Government policies at both a local and state level act as a major disincentive for those developers who want to do the right thing.

Woollahra Council

Probably the most significant thing we did to reduce CO2 emissions from our development was our decision not to provide on-site parking spaces. Woollahra Council was unhappy with our decision and has attempted to charge us a $1.3 million s94 development levy on our project for lack of on-site parking. In our case that amounts to a 26% development tax. Council wants to collect the money to expand the nearby Council owned and operated Cross Street car park.

We do not want on-site parking spaces on our site and we do not want Woollahra Council to build additional parking on our behalf at Council’s nearby Cross Street car park. What appals us is that on average the Cross Street car park is only at 50% capacity and at its peak is only 71% full. I have personally been to the top floor of that car park on many occasions and have never seen a car parked there. Woollahra Council in its wisdom wants to use the $1.3 million collected form us to help expand the Cross Street car park by adding an additional storey on top of it. How can Woollahra Council justify building a white-elephant at the expense of our sustainable project? What has happened to common sense?

We told Council Officers that their policy was unsustainable and we put forward a sustainable car sharing proposal that would have been made available for the wider community as well as the occupants of our development. Woollahra Council rejected our proposal because they were not prepared to part with the $1.3 million, notwithstanding the environmental benefits to be gained.

Energy Australia

Our difficulties did not end with Woollahra Council. After obtaining development consent, we found out from Energy Australia that they wanted to install an electricity kiosk on our property without any form of compensation. Federal and Local Government must pay fair compensation when they take away your property rights, apparently the State Government, through its agent Energy Australia has no such requirement.

In our case, we told Energy Australia that we were a sustainable development and that even though we were building a four storey building, we could design our building to use no more energy than the previous one and a half storey building on our site. Energy Australia ignored the environmental benefits to be gained and insisted on the installation of the electricity kiosk, effectively sterilising 40 square metres of prime retail space on our property.

The electricity kiosk was not required as a result of our development, but rather to meet the surplus demand generated by the unsustainable buildings in the rest of Double Bay.

Energy Australia have seriously damaged the Goldman Lane streetscape and cost our project a further $700,000 in lost capital value which equates to a further 14% development tax.

Energy Australia has abused its power and unfairly penalised a sustainable development to help subsidise unsustainable buildings throughout the rest of Double Bay.

Quite extraordinarily, we were forced to pay 40% development taxes on our sustainable development. Is it any wonder more developers don’t go sustainable?

If it is appropriate, I would be more than delighted to speak on your show.

Kind regards,

Lesli Berger

Fivex Commercial Property