21 JULY 2005
The Balmain Tigers this week released for community consultation a concept Masterplan for the Tigers premises at Rozelle.
Chairman of the Tigers, David Trodden said in relation to the announcement:
The Tigers property at Rozelle is currently comprised of a fifty year old Leagues Club and carpark. The Club needs to evolve to accommodate the changing nature and demographics of the community. We want to be as relevant to our community as we were in 1908 and as we have been in the 97 years which have followed.
Tigers now has over 16,000 members, a great number of which live within the Leichhardt Local Government Area. Tigers employ 110 people and approximately 1250 people visit the Club each day.
The concept Masterplan is for a mixed use project with the following features:
A new 4500m² Club;
3000m² supermarket and fresh food area;
2000m² north facing open-air plaza/town centre;
A range of residential uses including townhouses and apartments spread over 2 residential buildings and the Waterloo Street frontage;
Extensive public carparking;
High quality restaurants and cafes;
A state of the art air conditioned Fitness Centre;
Pedestrian bridge linking Rozelle Village across Victoria Road;
Outdoor cinema;
Direct pedestrian linkage from Darling Street to the public plaza;
Vehicle sliplane and busbays on Victoria Road.
The development manager for the project, David Hynes from Winston Langley, said that the 2000m2 central and north facing plaza will serve as a focal point for the community and will be a place where you can enjoy a wide range of activities be it an art exhibition, an outdoor movie, shopping or simply hanging out.
The concept Masterplan creates an open air and safe space for people to congregate and children to play and, in so doing, will fuse the Darling Street and Norton Street cafe lifestyle with the open space characteristics of the wider Leichhardt area, Hynes said.
At present, the Tigers site sits on 6000m2 of land, with no clear links to the rest of the Rozelle Village. The Masterplan addresses this in two ways firstly via a direct pedestrian link to Darling Street on the southern side of Victoria Road, and secondly, via a pedestrian footbridge over Victoria Road.
The CEO of the Tigers, Danny Munk said: We strongly believe that direct links of this nature will continue the rejuvenation of the retail precinct in the area and link the Tigers property more effectively and coherently with the wider precinct of Rozelle Village.
In terms of the new Club, Danny Munk added: The open-air terraces that overlook the plaza will feature a wide range of food offerings, function and bar facilities, whilst within the one venue it is proposed to have a range of restaurants, from a noodle bar to fine dining with a very Australian indoor/outdoor feel.
David Hynes noted that Supermarket space currently comprises 4% of the total retail area in the Rozelle precinct whilst nationally supermarkets typically represent 33% of total retail usage. The incorporation of a supermarket in the concept Masterplan addresses the need for a second supermarket in proximity to the Balmain peninsula.
David Hynes said: From an environmental perspective, Tigers are aiming, through the concept Masterplan for an 80% reduction in water use double the newly introduced BASIX standards. It is aimed to achieve this outcome through the usage of water efficient fixtures, the capture of all stormwater and extensive usage of recycled water.
Similarly, from an energy and greenhouse gas emission perspective, we are proposing to use a technology called cogeneration whereby a small gas-filled engine generates electricity on site, whilst the waste heat is used to provide hot water. This is expected to generate a 30% reduction in greenhouse emissions significantly higher than the BASIX requirements.
Subject to the outcome of the community consultation process, Tigers anticipate lodging a Masterplan application with Leichhardt Council by November 2005.
ends
The future of Balmain and the Wests Tigers will be secured
