Sydney Lord Mayor & Sydney City Council Full of Hot Air Over Green Promises

Award-winning property developer, Fivex Commercial Property, has labelled the policy of creating a sustainable city by the Lord Mayor Clover Moore and Sydney City Council as a farce, with their demands to make property developers outlay exorbitant cash payments for green development approvals.

The Council has demanded the developer; noted for its ground-breaking green commercial building on New South Head Rd in Double Bay, pay $589,803 in ‘voluntary’ payments and a further $165,000 in s94 contributions to gain the necessary approvals to develop a five storey commercial building at the highest green rating in Woolloomooloo. The payments the Council seeks amount to over 10% of the $7,000,000 construction budget for the project.

The demand for the so called ‘voluntary’ payment and rejection of Fivex’s development application has come, despite the fact that the plans are within the same envelope that was the subject of an application approved five years ago by the same Council.

Fivex consultant and well known sustainability expert, Mr Michael Mobbs, said “It is a disgrace that this Council recently unveiled its 2030 Sustainable Sydney policy, yet is attempting to blackmail a project that will deliver on its objectives under its green policy.

“The proposed development will delete 125 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and re-use 700,000 litres of sewage every year, yet the Council is attempting to penalise a developer for being a leader of sustainable development in Sydney”, he added.

Fivex has taken its application to the Land and Environmental Court to appeal the Council’s “deemed refusal” of its development application, because of the Council’s attempt to steal, through a Voluntary Planning Agreement i.e. monetary contribution, the budget to be used to create the sustainable features to be added to the building on the site.

General Manager of Fivex, Mr Lesli Berger, said “We have offered the Council a compromise in which we will invest $891,000 in water harvesting, tri-generation of power and street works, a figure far in excess of what the Council is demanding as a cash payment under its so-called Voluntary Planning Agreement.

“It is time property developers in Sydney are not held to ransom by Councillors, who are good at making claims about their concerns for the environment and vision for the city, yet are quick to turn these over for bags of silver”, he added.

The Council has told the developer that despite its previous “acceptance” on merit of the development, it had rejected the application on the spurious claim about a change of use of the building from residential to commercial and that its sustainable systems do not create public benefits because they are mostly contained on privately owned land.

Mr Berger said, “At best these issues are disingenuous as the merits of the development have been recognised by many of the Councillors and Council officers, yet because we have not agreed to pay the exorbitant fees the Council will not grant consent to our development application.

“Surely it should be obvious that private sector developers should be encouraged to create sustainable private buildings, as they make up the majority of buildings in Australia and can be used as benchmarks for others”, he added.

Fivex’s Double Bay building, at 376-382 New South Head Rd, Double Bay, has won many awards in recent years for its cutting edge environmental features, among them being the 2007 Master Builders Association Award for Energy Efficiency, the 2007 Australian Property Institute Environmental Development Award the 2007 NSW Royal Institute of Architects Award for Commercial Architecture.

Mr Berger said, “If the Council treats a private company, keen to do the right thing by the environment and society, so badly, what chance do we have to create a sustainable future for our children?”

Fivex is keen to find a compromise with the Council, which is spending ratepayers’ funds on legal costs, but will continue fighting in the courts if no ground is given.

“This is not about money as we are spending a great deal more money in going to court and proposing to invest in sustainable features, than the $589,803 they are demanding in cash for in this rort. The Lord Mayor needs to step up to the plate and stand by her commitment to create a sustainable city”, concluded Mr Berger.