The Hive Evolves Again

I was surprised to see yet another Development Application for the Newtown (though most people think of it as Erskineville) site known for a while as the Hive, formerly used as the Mardi Gras workshops. There's been a long history of Development Applications for the site, which has been empty for a significant period of time.

Hive Building

The Mayor has been tracking the evolution of the Hive (not to be confused with the relatively new Hive Bar) since May 2009, when the first revision of the DA occurred. At that stage, it seemed as if the long running saga had finally come to a conclusion, with most people satisfied with the compromise of a single story supermarket, although the Friends of Erskineville were still holding out for something else (what was not quite clear). Sometime during the course of last year, intended occupiers Woolworths, who had been hoping to open their 'gourmet' brand Thomas Dux, must have lost interest, as the most recent DA prior to this week (minor amendments around the internals) mentioned IGA as the tenants.

The new Application has somewhat surprisingly upped the ante, reversing the previous application by adding not one but two stories of residential apartments. Somewhat naively the Traffic Impact statement claims there will be no discernible traffic impact from the additional residencies, as they will all be sold without car spaces. While this is great in principal, I predict a future of the supermarket manager clamping resident's cars that are left in the supermarket's limited parking spaces, and car shuffling around the area's limited parking spaces.

Artists Impression

Despite the above, there's actually a lot to support in this application. It certainly looks smart enough in the photos above, and infill developments like these so close to two train lines are certainly preferable to acres of Mc Mansions in the Hills District. I can't help wondering if the hold-out protesters from the previous proposal are now regretting their opposition to the last-but-one application; as it would appear to have triggered a re-think.
 
As is often the case with these DAs, there's lot's of  information to be found in the Historical Impact Statement (pdf)  for those of you with an interest in our past. Below is a photo from the report looking down Erskineville Road.

So what do you think ? Is it too big ? Will the traffic ruin the Village ? Or is about time the abandoned sites along Erskineville Road were developed ? 

Hive Revisited

Back in May, I posted about the controversy surrounding the proposed redevelopment of the 'Hive' site (confusingly there's now a Hive Bar in Erskineville, but that's another story) as a supermarket. In a nutshell, the original proposal for a large supermarket was rejected for size reasons after a well-coordinated campaign from the Friends of Erskineville Village; only for the owner to come back with another proposal for a 'grocery store' (less than half the size) on the same site.

The Friends relaunched their campaign; but feelings didn't seem to be as strong this time round, and while no-one is pretending this is the best use of the site, there are plenty who feel that it's not the disaster the friends are claiming.

Now, the council Development Assessment Sub-Committee have prepared their report on the application which goes to Council next Monday. They have recommended approval of the application, subject to the following conditions:

• Restricting the maximum length of vehicles servicing the site to 8.8m;
• Restricting hours of operation to: 7.00am to 10.00pm, Monday to Saturday and 8.00am to 10.00pm on Sunday
• Implementing traffic works and restrictions;
• Prohibiting the use of trolleys; and
• Compliance with the acoustic report.

The full report can be found here (item 6) - I'll draw your attention to the justification (on page 51)

(a) the development will introduce much needed competition, a wider range of goods and lower prices for customers;
(b) residents would like to be able to walk to a shop of this size on a daily basis, rather than drive to another suburb; and
(c) the development will attract employment for locals.
(d) The re-use of the building has environmental benefits and will conserve its current appearance. It is a significant improvement to the previously approved mixed-used development.
(e) Traffic is an acceptable part of living in the inner-city.
(f) The building is currently an eyesore and needs to be refurbished. Investment in this part of Erskineville will improve the amenity of the village.
(g) The majority of residents support the application and are not being heard due to the minority of vocal objectors.

Point g), I imagine, will be particularly galling to FOE, but is consistent with what I have seen. Broadly, there were two main themes to the objections; the additional traffic that a supermarket on the site would generate, and the impact it would have on existing Village businesses.


There's no question that the traffic on that part of Erskineville road is shocking; and any development or use of the Hive would make it worse. The question the council has to wrestle with is the veracity of the claims in the impact statement that the majority of clientele would arrive on foot. Frankly you'd be mad to drive there (I'm not sure how many drive to Frankies on King Street or the Foodworks today) but I'm no traffic engineer. I used to commute via Erskineville Road until I discovered it was faster (not too mention better for you) to cycle during peak periods.

The second objection has drawn quite a response from readers of this blog and followers of the Mayor on Twitter - but not the one you might have expected. The feeling of the majority is that existing retail in the village takes its clientele for granted and could do with a bit of competition.

After keeping my opinion to myself in the first post; I finally added this today:

In my ideal world the Hive would be put to a more imaginative use than a grocery store / supermarket - but of course this is not an ideal world; and someone has bought the building expecting to make a commercial return on it.

The current proposal is way better than the previous one in size and scope. My biggest objection to the current proposal is that the shop will be run by Woolworth's - presumably under their new Thomas Dux brand. As Kelly pointed out above, they don't have a great track record in the way they treat local businesses - it's a crying shame the new Hive owner couldn't find a local to open up a boutique grocers there instead.

Unfortunately Council can't reject the proposal on those grounds - we're really in the hands of the ACCC to protect us from the grocery duopoly - a job they are not doing very well at the moment IMO.

One positive is that finally the Hive will no longer be derelict; now to fix some of the other buildings on Erskineville Road.

As always, interested in comments and feedback.

Hive of Non-Activity

In neighbouring Erskineville there has been a recent hullabaloo over the planned conversion of the old Sydney Mardi Gras warehouse (also known as the Hive) on Erskineville Road into a Supermarket. A very vocal and effective campaign was waged by the local pressure group 'Village Friends' - their excellent website is worth checking out - and Sydney City Council eventually rejected the application due to traffic issues and the impact on surrounding businesses. The appeal to the Land and Environment Court was also rejected in January this year.

A new Development Application has just been received by Council for a grocery store (far less threatening than a supermarket) on the same site. At first glance it seems that many of the residents' objections have been addressed; the area of the proposed grocery store  is less than 900sqm, compared with the 2138sqm of the orginal proposal, and there are only 16 car spaces envisaged. The proposal is only for a single story building which is the same as the existing building, as opposed to the previous double story plans.

The Economic Impact Assessment is the most interesting document submitted as part of the DA, explaining (or at least claiming) that the smaller grocery store will only attract locals and limited passing traffic, rather than being a destination store attracting (car based) shoppers.As anyone who lives in the area can tell you, that part of Erskinevile Road is chockers  and most times of the day and really doesn't need any more traffic. Still, at 900sqm the proposed store is only slightly smaller than King Street's Franklins (1200sqm) and Foodworks (1042sqm), neither of which are small 'grocery stores'.

So what do people think ? Does this DA go far enough in meeting the council's requirements ? Is this a positive development for Newtown/Erskineville (technically the Hive is in Newtown although most would consider it part of Erskineville) ? Let me know !

By the way, like the Hub, the Hive is available for short term rent while the DA gets processed.