Shadow Diagrams
Case Study: Tree Removal Application Supported ...

Residential Solar Access & Tree Removal Application

Case Study: Tree Removal Application Supported by Shadow Diagrams

Future of controversial Brunswick development set to overshadow Princes Park to be revealed

The fate of a controversial proposed apartment tower in Brunswick is hanging in the balance, with the developer expected to reveal its next step on Monday.

A pitch for a 12-storey block was deemed too tall by the state planning tribunal earlier this year, amid worries about overshadowing of popular Princes Park.

Moreland City Council rejected the amended plans for a 10-storey project at 699 Park Street, on the corner of bustling Sydney Road, late last month in a decision welcomed by some locals.

Protect Park Street Precinct spokeswoman Christine Christian said she hoped the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal would now reject the plans completely.

“We’re feeling very confident, we’ve invested significant resources and our response is based on expert advice,” she said. “It would be an absolute travesty if what is being proposed is being erected on this sensitive heritage site.”

READ MORE

Rule switch planned to keep afternoon gloom out of parks, playgrounds

Melbourne has Victoria’s first lieutenant-governor, Charles La Trobe, to thank for the city’s substantial inner-ring parks; it was his vision that made Melbourne a garden city.

But many of these parks are now facing a shadowy threat.

“La Trobe would be turning in his grave if he knew how much sunlight is now at risk of being lost in Melbourne’s parks,” says Melbourne City Council’s planning chair, Nick Reece.

Gardiner Reserve in North Melbourne is home to the suburb’s busiest playground.

Melbourne City Council wants to see new mandatory overshadowing rules that would protect parks from the seasonal shadows of new developments.

“Parks in Southbank and the central city have existing planning controls protecting them from overshadowing in winter,” Cr Reece says

READ MORE

Petition launched to limit Woden ‘out of scale’ mega-development

One is ‘completely out of scale’ to the current environment and the other is the result of ‘changing the rules of the game after the game has started’.

That’s how Woden resident Dione Smith has described Hindmarsh’s proposed massive marker building on a site known as N12 and a smaller multi-storey block on a smaller site N10 on the corner of Easty and Wilbow Streets near the Woden Police Station and Healthpoint.

Ms Smith, who moved into the three-storey Willara complex at the end of 2014 and sees herself on the front line, has launched a Legislative Assembly petition sponsored by Greens MLA Caroline Le Couteur against Hindmarsh’s plans, citing overshadowing, ‘retrospective’ rezoning and inadequate traffic management infrastructure.

READ

Local councils to win new powers to reject development applications

The NSW Department of Planning and Environment has released draft regulations that will make it easier for local councils to ‘reject’ development applications before they are assessed on their merits.

The changes are set out in a draft Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (ePlanning) Regulation 2017.  It has been released for public comment.

The Department says that the regulation changes will ‘support online lodgement of development applications by introducing consistent documents and technical requirements across NSW’.

However, for reasons explained below, developers of complex projects are unlikely to want to use the new online lodgement process (as currently proposed).

The regulation does much more than merely pave the way for online lodgement of applications.  It dramatically increases the amount of mandatory information that must be supplied up-front with a development application — even for applications that are merely lodged ‘over-the-counter’ in the traditional way.

Read full article

The darker side of urban development

Solar initiatives in built-up areas may be left struggling to see the light of day.

The eco-friendly Australian cities of the future will combine dense housing with savvy, energy-smart design. Or will they? Is there a conflict looming between the twin green goals of urban densification and widespread harvesting of the sun’s rays?

More and more people are installing solar panels and solar hot water systems, growing their own vegies and adapting their houses for passive solar gain. But as they do so, they may find their desire for direct sunlight overshadowed by bigger buildings next door.

Kim Dovey, professor of architecture and urban design at The University of Melbourne, says the right to sunlight is a growing issue.

Read full article

Sydney residents say government’s fast-tracking of development ‘fails to address overshadowing’

Helen Persson is devastated after a developer outlined plans  to build a two-storey house next door to her beloved single-level Hunters Hill home of 56 years that will almost completely block out her sunlight.

Under state government fast-track legislation for complying development, which doesn’t specifically guarantee neighbour’s access to natural light, the 83-year-old said she wasn’t even given a decent chance to object.

“It’s terrible,” she said. “It’s going to be so dark and cold in my house all the time. I’m not going to live much longer, maybe only another five years, so it’s going to be very hard here.

Read full article

BASIX considers overshadowing

BASIX considers overshadowing from:

  • existing permanent buildings, but not outhouses, sheds or temporary structures;

  • parts of your proposed building;

  • a future building on an adjacent site, if it has an approved DA or CDC; or

  • existing vegetation, if it is subject to planning control for removal.

Overshadowing will increase the estimated heating load and reduce the cooling loads to different degrees depending on the level of obstruction and climate zone.

Only specify overshadowing if there is an obstruction directly in front of the centre of the base of the window in plan and elevation. That is, if you were to look out the window, the obstruction would be directly in front and not wholly below or to the side. If there is a large obstruction offset to the side and you want to get the benefit of the obstruction, consider using the Simulation method.

For existing vegetation, overshadowing can be specified if it is directly in front of the window, or where there is a bare tree trunk in front of the window and the canopy is above the plane of the window.

Learn more