A NUMBER of objections have been made against the University of Newcastle's plans for inner-city student accommodation following public feedback.
Submissions have since closed for the state significant development application, which includes a proposed 205 student accommodation units at 20 Civic Lane, Newcastle.
The nine-storey building, planned for the corner of Worth Place and Civic Lane, will be home to more than 450 students and will feature outdoor communal spaces and ground-floor retail options.
The project is part of the second stage of the university's plans for the Honeysuckle precinct after it bought the two-hectare site from the state government in 2018.
City of Newcastle backed the plans, but provided recommendations for more inclusive rooms, design, flood management and traffic and parking.
A number of residents and community members have expressed their concerns.
Hunter Street residents Trevor and Megan Hefren wrote a letter objecting to the proposal, stating it was "grossly unfair" on the amenity of surrounding residents.
"Visually due to the height of the proposal and experientially, given the lack of the provision on any parking in neighbourhood already lacking sufficient parking," they wrote.
James Carr owns an apartment directly across from the proposed development.
"The site is mapped by council for a 30 metre building height and the approved nine floors of accommodation fit within this mapping limit. My concern is the substantial exceeding of the Local Environmental Plans (LEP) mapping height limit with excessive rooftop plant structures," he said.
"While significant attention appears to have been paid to the impact on views from existing apartments at 522-526 Hunter Street, there appears to have been no consideration to loss of visual amenity from existing apartments at 489 Hunter Street and 509 Hunter Street," he said.
"We would like to highlight that all the buildings already constructed west of this site along Honeysuckle Drive, were able to build to the mapped height limit without building plant and cooling structures exceeding the mapped height limit."
UON Labor president Liam McGillion also objected to plans, saying 45 proposed car parks merely replaced the current parking footprint.
"The proposed car parking would result in nine in 10 student residents having their job prospects restricted to the Newcastle CBD, or to areas immediately accessible to the Newcastle Transport Network, and its limited timetable," he said.
He also was wary of student safety with the location surrounded by major bars and nightclubs.
"Student safety could be threatened, as the area can become fairly unsafe towards the end of the week with a cyclical increase in alcohol use," he said.
University of Newcastle director of infrastructure services and facilities Kevin McCarthy said feedback from the community had been central to the development of the project.
"We thank everyone who has taken the time to provide feedback. We will review all submissions and respond formally in the coming months," he said.
"With the public exhibition period for our state significant development application now closed, we are one step closer to delivering our proposed student accommodation building, which will help to address critical student accommodation shortages and contribute to the revitalisation of Newcastle's CBD."
