The ACT government has approved the redevelopment of the Woden Tradies car park but the project has been further scaled down from the original proposal for the site.
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The ACT Planning and Land Authority will allow the Tradies Group to construct a 19-storey residential tower and 10-storey commercial/office block on the car park next to its Woden club.
Plans were lodged with the authority last year for a 24-storey residential tower but ACTPLA recommended the proposed building be almost halved.
The authority had been concerned about height and overshadowing. It called for the residential tower to be from 12 to 15 stories.
However, it has now approved the 19-storey development consisting of 137 dwellings, which is a reduction of about 47 dwellings from the 2013 proposal.
The final approval of the plans represents a further downgrade of a 2009 proposal to build a $200 million complex including two residential towers, a 700-seat convention centre, a hotel, a gym and a new Tradies club.
The Tradies Group had confirmed at the time of lodging the most recent development application that the scaling down of this proposal had been largely for economic reasons.
The ACT Planning and Land Authority’s notice of decision said the proposed 24-storey residential tower fronting Melrose Drive and 10-story office block fronting Furzer Street were aimed at providing a marker building for the town centre.
''However, the proposed 24-storey residential tower was considered to be inconsistent with the desired character for the area and would have a significant impact on the Melrose Drive streetscape,'' it said.
''It was considered that a building with a reduced height and increased setback would be more appropriate, given the context of the existing and proposed height of buildings in the immediate area.''
It says the residential tower has been ''significantly reduced'' to 17 storeys with part of the building stepping up to 19 storeys to be more sympathetic to nearby buildings including Aviation House, the Sirius Building and Scarborough House.
The authority says the combination in height and increased distance from the Melrose Drive boundary has also reduced the extent of potential overshadowing on units of the Bellerive Retirement Village.
Residents of the complex had lodged a number of submissions during the public notification process expressing their concerns that the tower would block sunlight to their homes.
The notice of decision says the scaled down tower has improved access to morning sunlight from 10am compared to the original 24-storey tower which would have blocked sunlight until 11am.