“For example, if a line of boats were to interrupt the image of the Sydney Opera House with their masts and rigging, the Opera House may be visible in the background … but the view would be significantly diminished.”
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Sydney firm Micheal Fountain Architects launched Land and Environment Court proceedings last year against Hunters Hill Council, asking the court to give the marina expansion the green light.
“The closest island to the proposal site is Cockatoo Island, which is located 250 metres to the south,” Beasley said.
“The island is recognised as having UNESCO World Heritage significance and is listed in the National Heritage List, relating to its past as a penal establishment from 1839-69 for convicts who reoffended in the colonies.”
Spectacle Island, about 500 metres south-west of the proposal site, is a functioning Royal Australian Navy base. It has Commonwealth heritage protections.
Beasley said that “[from] the public domain of Kelly’s Bush foreshore, and from foreshore locations in the Horse Paddock [park], there is significant obstruction to views of both Cockatoo and Spectacle Islands”.
He concluded that the visual impacts of the proposal were “of such magnitude that consent should be refused”.
“The sense of them being islands in the harbour is significantly diminished because of the view obstruction.”
The Save Our Shores residents’ group had gathered more than 900 signatories against the proposal.
It said in a statement to supporters on Friday: “Your support proves our public spaces are, and always should be, for the benefit and enjoyment of all, not an exclusive few.”
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