Randwick panel approves Kensington levy and tightens conditions at 1 Roma Avenue

Randwick Local Planning Panel has approved a residential development at 1 Roma Avenue, Kensington, and amended the consent to impose a Section 7.12 levy of $68,348.25 based on a development cost of $6,834,826.

The panel granted consent for a part two and part three storey residential dwelling ancillary to the Sacred Heart Monastery, then changed a series of conditions covering privacy, civil works, drainage, permeability and landscaping.

It required a 1.6m privacy screen to southern balconies facing 1 Inglethorpe Avenue. It also set sill height or obscured-glazing requirements for several southern and eastern windows. Film applied to clear glass was not allowed.

No permission is granted for any works on Council land without a formal civil works application. The panel also ordered changes to the hardstand paving beside the rear elevation. That area must become deep soil or permeable paving, with the roof overhang reduced to a 500mm cantilever and the support columns deleted.

Rainwater and detention tanks shown in that zone must be relocated within the building envelope. The panel also deleted part of the elevated terrace and retaining wall west of the roller shutter and pedestrian access door, leaving an uncovered driveway area.

The southern boundary retaining wall next to the public stair must be lowered to a maximum height of 2.00m above the proposed driveway level. Ground-floor areas marked only as unidentified spaces must be shown on the revised plans as storage, services, plant and equipment or non-habitable rooms.

Landscaping was pulled under direct council oversight too. The amended landscape scheme must be approved by Council’s Manager Development Assessment before a construction certificate is issued, and the finished landscaping must later be certified before an occupation certificate.

The panel said it had visited the site, reviewed Council officers’ assessment and accepted the applicant’s request to correct the estimated cost calculation in the draft conditions. It also amended the landscape certificate conditions because of the importance of the landscaping.

The same electronic meeting on 21 May 2026 also backed a separate application at 68 Denning Street, South Coogee. The panel visited that site and approved alterations and additions to the existing dwelling house, subject to the consent conditions in the assessment report.

For the Kensington project, amended plans and documents must go back to Council for approval before any construction certificate is released. A formal civil works application is also needed for any works on Council land, and the indexed levy must be paid before a construction certificate is issued.