Cumberland panel refuses Lidcombe mixed-use works at 11 John Street

Cumberland Council’s Local Planning Panel has refused Development Application 2025/0911 for 11 John Street, Lidcombe, by a 4-0 vote. The proposal sought alterations and additions to an approved nine-storey mixed-use building, including basement, ground floor, residential, rooftop and landscaping works, and use of the building for shop-top housing. Heather Warton chaired the meeting, with Helen Deegan, Linda Kelly and Nalinie Aieyelananthan voting for refusal.

The panel said the application contained inadequate and conflicting information and gave nine reasons for refusal. It found some rectification works were proposed outside the nominated site, including a ramp on the adjoining lot at 11A John Street, without separate owner’s consent.

It also said the application did not properly explain the relationship with the original consent, DA-219/2011, or the status of compliance with existing conditions. The minutes say the building has a complex history, including that it was erected before a construction certificate was issued and is now subject to a current Prohibition Order from the Building Commission.

The panel said it was not clear how an alterations-and-additions application would provide a valid pathway to an occupation certificate for the whole building. It also noted the applicant had not provided legal advice to support that approach.

The panel had further concerns about the documents it was given. It said copies of Building Information Certificates issued in 2019 and 2020 were not provided, that past orders on the building had not been explained, and that the application did not include all works identified as needed in a May 2022 audit report referred to in the statement of environmental effects.

The submitted drawings, the panel said, did not clearly separate approved work, existing works, unauthorised work and future work still needing consent or certification. The minutes say that included work already approved under the existing consent, work covered by previous Building Information Certificates, proposed new work, and work built contrary to the original consent for which use-only approval was sought.

The panel also pointed to conflicting details in the plans, including piles around the basement edge marked as unauthorised construction work, while the applicant had told the briefing a construction certificate had been issued for excavation works. It also noted blue-marked basement columns, and sprinkler risers and penetrations that were not clearly shown on the sections.

The site has sat vacant for some time, but the panel said it was not in the public interest to approve the application as lodged because of the uncertainty in the material before it. It also said the proposed sprinkler works could further reduce floor-to-ceiling heights and affect compliance with the Apartment Design Guide and parts of the Building Code of Australia.

The panel said any review or fresh application would need to document the full extent of approved, constructed, unauthorised and proposed works, include all lots involved, including 11A John Street, and provide consolidated copies of the existing consent, drawings, construction certificates and Building Information Certificates. It said the applicant could seek a review of the decision or lodge a fresh development application for the rectification works and a BIC application.

Other matters heard at the 10 June meeting included an approved pool removal at 48 Hall Street, Auburn, and a refusal for a co-living project at 16 Bernard Street, Lidcombe.