477 Sydney Road faces demolition.
Sydney Road, Coburg contains a range of shops that illustrate the evolution of the strip from the mid-nineteenth to the late twentieth centuries. Many of these are unprotected by a heritage overlay and are in danger of disappearing. We seek Merri-bek council to impose interim controls before more buildings are threatened.
What has happened?
A development application for 477 Sydney Road has highlighted the precarious nature of Coburg’s streetscape. The application seeks the complete demolition of an early twentieth-century building that for many years functioned as a shoe shop and later as a bank branch.
Plans show a new structure of seven levels containing twenty ‘apartments’ and a downstairs eatery. No provision is made for the building to blend in with the surrounding area, no provision is made for open or green space for the residents, and there is no provision for parking.
Why these buildings?
Shops such as 477 Sydney Road are a form of community memory and deserve to be safeguarded. Commerical, retail and industrial buildings from the past are as important as historic residential architecture. They can be repurposed and reused rather than destroyed.
How?
Heritage overlays enable retention of buildings while allowing appropriate development at the rear. In the medium to longer term, areas that preserve their historic streetscapes become desirable destinations in their own right.
Please support Coburg Historical Society as we approach Merri-bek Council to ensure urgent protection for Sydney Road’s remaining heritage shopfronts.
Please support Coburg Historical Society as we approach Merri-bek Council to ensure urgent protection for Sydney Road’s remaining heritage shopfronts.
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