4 Carlow Street, North Sydney NSW 2060

We have real and recent experience with a rooftop deck. Two matters need to be considered: noise and privacy. Noise travels freely from such a deck, as anyone knows with roofing work nearby. Further, the timing of such noise tends to be when people are at home (ie. evenings and weekends). Our neighbour has a part-enclosed rooftop deck and the family has parties which sometimes continue into the night. From our house it seems as though they in the next room.

Lastly, a rooftop deck means rooftop views, so if you value the privacy of your garden then this can make you unhappy.

These rooftop decks may seem a nice idea for one owner but in practice can make several neighbouring owners upset. Not a good idea in such a dense suburb.

In a municipality that is required by the NSW Government to increase the resident population by 15,000 in the next decade there are several ways to achieve that before the state government takes over planning approvals in North Sydney.

One way is to build massive towers like those that have gone up at Crows Nest (with many more to come there over the Metro Station) North Sydney and Milsons Point. Experience demonstrates that the open outdoor space available for current and anticipated residents falls way short of the standards recommended and significantly under the average open space across Greater Metropolitan Sydney. For instance, between the Harbour and North Sydney Oval there is more indoor seating than there is outdoor space/seating.

Another way to accept another 15,000 residents is to allow current residents to add small units on top of their existing garages; many of which would have a small outdoor area for these new residents.

Spreading the load, and therefore the impact, across the whole of the municipality will protect much of the village nature that characterises many suburbs in the municipality and at the same time provides less impact on the outdoor open areas that currently exist.

The alternative? Massive high rise apartment blocks like the 37 storey building in Crows Nest and the approved 55 storey building in North Sydney. Overshadowing of properties throughout the municipality; creating wind tunnels like those that currently occur around the North Sydney CBD; grossly overcrowding some local open air outdoor spaces in areas such as Crows Nest, North Sydney itself and Milsons Point. Sharing the impact of accommodating 15,000 more residents across the municipality will more likely deliver the commUNITY we need. So no more of the NIMBY whining, the reality is change here is inevitable and we need to embrace it. If we don't that governments will take control and we ALL know what property developers want (and seem to be getting at the moment) and how they support political parties to get it.

No 'Mascot Towers, or Opal Buildings. No more NIMBY guff. Embrace the change that is up us and CONTROL if for everyone in the commUNITY.

STOP PATHWAYS building multi-storey aged care facilities. This is not the way we should treat the people that have tirelessly looked after us growing up. They deserve open spaces to roam freely. Haven’t we learnt from covid, that high rise blocks are a death trap?