Sorry for the delay in getting these notes to you all - the following reflects feedback we've received from everyone on chief likes and dislikes for the new development at 38 Merri Parade, which was further refined through a meeting held outside the site on Bridge Street on Sunday, 26 July. To be clear: these are the themes that were the most frequently raised in your feedback to us - it does not represent the particular views of the organising group, although of course we agree entirely!
We have kept the themes broad to best capture the general sweep of opinion, but the following represents the five dominant points on which our community feels it should not/cannot compromise:
Do Not Like
1. Too great a scale and density - security, number of people and seclusion of site/street will impact security, street culture, increased traffic and reduced safety
2. low no. on-site car parks will impact resident parking on Bridge and Union streets.
3. too high - imposing, dominates the streetscape
4. unsympathetic architecture - detracts from neighbourhood character, fails to optimise position
5. adverse impact on amenity eg: noise, overlooking, privacy
Height and density are obviously the big ones - reducing these would have a positive impact on all the other elements, as the development as it stands would at least double the population of the two streets it spans.
The following will represent the elements we would most like the developer to bring to the development, bearing in mind that our list of dislikes, above, will take precedence in discussions:
Would Like
1. Decreased scale and density
2. min. 1+ car park/dwelling and 1 bike park/dwelling with access off Merri Parade
3. High quality architecture to give a diversity of low-cost and high-end dwellings - 1+2+3 bedroom (less 1 bed/studios) - built to 5 star energy rating, with a sustainable and liveable design using outlook to city and creek to great advantage
4. Safe streets, personal safety, small traffic increase
5. preserve privacy of existing residents
In terms of what we all would like, it's interesting to note there wasn't a consistent inverse correlation to our dislikes, which many of us had expected. We note the sustainable design of the development is particularly important to many of us, and we will certainly expect the plans to adhere to regulations governing the required energy ratings in design and construction.
We will provide further updates as they become available. As always, feel free to let me know if you have any outstanding concerns or questions, or would like to be more closely involved.
