Council bringing new life to Coogee Bowling Club
By Georgia Fullerton
Randwick Council voted unanimously to develop Coogee Bowling Club at their last council meeting on Tuesday June 23, despite community concerns.
Planned renovations to the club will transform the ground floor into a fitness centre and replace the existing conference room with a billiard room.
The club sits in a recreational area bounded by Dolphin and Bream Street with several gyms, tennis courts and sporting fields close to the site.
Greens councillor Lindsay Shurey said the reason she called the matter before Council was to give any concerned residents a chance to have their say.
“It would appear that everyone is happy with the Council recommendation for approval,” she said.
A spokesperson for Randwick Council said they were currently considering any possible adverse impacts of the development. “The owners of adjoining and likely affected neighbouring properties were notified of the proposed development in accordance with the Randwick Comprehensive Development Control Plan,” the spokesperson said.
“This Control Plan provides detailed planning and design guidance for new development, which supplements the provisions of the Randwick Local Environment Plan.”
Local residents have voiced concerns about the impacts of the proposed development and Council received submissions from six households. Noise was the leading concern of the community with fears that noise would exceed the current limits due to outdoor training at the site once renovations have been completed. But Council’s acoustic report supports the proposal and the noise impacts were also deemed acceptable by Council’s Environmental Assessment Officer, with the prohibition of outdoor training and classses at the fitness centre.
