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New Housing Project in North Kensington Blocked

North Kensington may be spared from a plan to introduce a new housing project following some objections from the local community.

With an average median house price of $3.4 million, North Kensington has been a target for affordable housing initiatives. However, amidst objections from Randwick Council, the scope of the housing strategy will be limited to West Randwick instead.

The NSW Planning Department proposed reinstating North Kensington and a portion of West Randwick as affordable housing investigation areas as part of a comprehensive planning proposal. Council officers informed the councillors about the department’s consideration, recommending an amendment to the Housing Investigation Area Affordable Housing Plan to include these areas, but only if the department reinstates them.

North Kensington Housing NSW — Photo Credit: NSW Planning Department

The decision to prevent increased affordable housing in North Kensington comes as the NSW Planning Department expressed concerns over Council’s push for developers to contribute 10 per cent toward affordable housing in local investigation areas.

In a letter to the Council, a representative from the Planning Department stated that the viability of this increased contribution rate “has not been tested.”

The planning representative also pointed out that the Council’s feasibility analysis had shown that even lower contribution rates of 5 to 7 per cent would not be viable.

A construction executive, George Sassine from CIMIC Group, also criticized the push, stating that it was no longer feasible to continue building houses. Mr Sassine highlighted the construction industry’s struggles with unprecedented inflation, which had led to bankruptcies. CoreLogic Australia’s construction cost index had risen by 12 per cent over the past year, with a similar increase in the previous year.

Whilst acknowledging the need for affordable housing, Sassine expressed frustration and argued for a greater focus on overall housing construction to meet the needs of the wider community. In response, the councillors voted to reduce the contribution rate to three to five per cent in major affordable housing zones.

Published 7-June-2023

UNSW Scientists’ Discovery Has Potential To Revolutionise Embryo Development Models

Scientists from UNSW Sydney have started an experiment at the Kensington lab that aims to mimic a key step in animal and human embryo development and may eventually lead to a new approach to enable this to happen outside of the body.

Read: New SkyParks in Kensington to Enhance UNSW Learning Spaces

The process, called gastrulation, occurs at Day 14 for an embryo developing in the womb, but scientists at the UNSW Sydney showed it can be done much earlier than how it occurs naturally.

The experiment, led by Scientia Associate Professor Kris Kilian, involves a gastrulation-like event that was triggered within two days of culturing human stem cells in a unique biomaterial that, as it turned out, set the conditions to mimic this stage of embryo development.

Gastrulation, as Associate Prof Kilian describes it, is the key step that leads to the human body plan.

When a human being starts to form, a mass of undifferentiated cells begin the first steps of a long journey in the womb.

“It is the start of the process where a simple sheet of cells transforms to make up all the tissues of the body – nerves, cardiovascular and blood tissue and structural tissue like muscle and bone. But we haven’t really been able to study the process in humans because you can’t study this in the lab without taking developing embryonic tissue,” Associate Prof Kilian said.

Associate Prof Kilian said that it’s really exciting that they were able to see this happening in vitro.

“Our method could lead to a new approach to mimic human embryogenesis outside of a person.”
Associate Professor Kris Kilian, UNSW Sydney

Read: Expert in UNSW Kensington Sees Promising Future for Flying Cars

Scientists from UNSW Sydney, using a technique adapted from the semiconductor industry, defined regions that are fabricated across a hydrogel for cells to stick to.

The researchers from the Sydney school are hopeful they can continue exploring the benefits of their discovery by understanding how materials can guide embryogenesis and beyond. Although the finding is exciting, Associate Prof Kilian still believes more work is needed to guide the gastrulation-like processes to form useful tissues.

Sydney Airport Lands on Most Stressful Airports List

Photo credit: Sydney Airport / syndeyairport.com.au

Did you know that a recent study has named Sydney Airport as among the most stressful airports in the Asia and Oceania region?

Four Australian cities, in fact, were included in the top 10 list in the rest of Asia and the Oceania Region with Sydney landing on the second spot following Tan Son Nhat International in Vietnam. The Philippines’ Ninoy Aquino International ranked third followed by Melbourne and Perth whilst Brisbane rounded out the top ten.

Extreme delays were noted as among the reasons why 59 per cent of Google Reviews for Sydney Airport indicate stress. The study also cited data from FlightAware compiled by CNN Travel which showed that 34.2 per cent of flights scheduled between 26 May and 19 July 2022 at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport were delayed.

Other reviews mentioned poor signage, surcharge for public transport to and from the airport, added airport taxes, and the airport curfew.

The study was conducted by Holiday rental company Hawaiian Islands which aimed to determine the most stressful airports in America and the world. The group analysed more than 1,500 Google reviews for over 500 airports across the globe and based the ranking on the percentage of reviews that indicate stress.

The top 10 most stressed airports in Southeast Asia and Oceania

Tan Son Nhat Intl, Vietnam – 60.13%
Sydney, Australia -58.98%
Ninoy Aquino Intl, Philippines – 57.81%
Melbourne, Australia – 55.40%
Perth, Australia – 55.30%
Beijing Capital Intl, China – 52.70%
Auckland, New Zealand – 51.35%
Bandaranaike Intl, Sri Lanka – 50.38%
Don Mueang Intl, Thailand – 50.27%
Brisbane, Australia – 48.53%

The distinction of being the most stressful airport in the world went to the UK’s Manchester Airport, with 82.5% of reviews indicating stress. Moreover, nine of the 10 most stressful airports overall were located in Europe, four of which are UK airports.

View the complete list here.

New SkyParks in Kensington to Enhance UNSW Learning Spaces

Photo Credit: UNSW

Did you know that the University of New South Wales (UNSW) could soon have SkyParks, a new urban garden that is expected to provide additional learning spaces and ‘living labs’ for research at its Kensington campus?

The project is expected to improve the balcony spaces of the UNSW SquareHouse building and will provide research opportunities on the impact of the cooling and greening of under-utilised areas. It will also pave the way for the development of adaptable, flexible, and energy-saving improvements in urban sites.

UNSW will also be setting up monitoring equipment to study the environmental conditions at the SkyParks to complement its research.

The plan is in line with the “Greening our City” initiative, which will be funded by the NSW Government. One of the goals of this project is to plant a million trees all over Sydney by the end of 2022.

Paula Masselos, the mayor of Waverley, calls the SkyParks the “living labs” that will help with the innovation of goals for a sustainable and climate-resilient Sydney. Waverley and Randwick Councils are also supporting the SkyParks initiative.

“[The garden] will also help us achieve our community target of net zero emission by 2035, as this cooling would hopefully mean less reliance on air conditioning,” Ms Masselos said.

The students and staff at UNSW look forward to discovering the positive outcome of the SkyParks.

“Through a series of pilot sites, we hope to identify the barriers, benefits, and ultimately best practice solutions to adapting our existing buildings, Although many of these forgotten spaces are currently under-utilised, they have the ability to create a more climate-resilient and socially equitable city,” said Alexander Georgouras from UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture.

Locals Worry About ‘Overpopulation’ With Regard To Proposed Housing In Kensington North

Locals are concerned about plans for a new housing precinct in North Kensington, which will also involve some changes in terms of the zoning, height and density rules in the area.

Read: Kensington House With No Bathroom, Kitchen & Power Sells for $4.7 Million

Based on planning documents, the new housing precinct would involve transitioning down to the proposed 7 and 5 storeys in the Housing Investigation Area (HIA) to the existing three and four storey walk-up apartments setback to either side of Anzac Parade, and to the lower scale one- and two-storey villas and semi-detached dwellings in the surrounding neighbourhoods.

The proposal is part of the Comprehensive Planning Proposal to amend Randwick City Council’s Local Environmental Plan (LEP).

As part of the LEP, Council is also considering rezoning 59A-71 Boronia Street and 77-103 Anzac Parade, Kensington (between Anzac Parade and Boronia Street).

“It is recommended that the optimum urban design outcome (building massing and height) for the Kensington North HIA, taking into consideration the existing and future surrounding built form context, is the proposed scenario with seven and five storey maximum height limits. Feasibility testing has demonstrated that this built form scenario is viable with a 5% Affordable Housing contribution,” the analysis report reads.

Locals’ concerns

housing randwick — Housing Investigation Area (Photo credit: Randwick City Council)

Some members of the community are against these proposed changes, with some locals citing ‘overpopulation; and ‘increasing densities without the appropriate infrastructure’ as their top concerns.

According to the Randwick Council, LEPs need to be amended periodically “to ensure they meet best planning practice and are strategically aligned with community values and the directions of state plans.”

Whilst Council is vocal against overdevelopment in the area, Randwick Mayor Dylan Parker explained that the local government had to keep up with the NSW Government’s target to have as much as 4,464 new dwellings in the next 6-10 years.

“To limit the impact of these housing targets, our draft LEP proposes additional housing in areas well located to public transport, jobs and shops,” Mayor Parker said.

Meanwhile, the Council also encourages locals to have their say on the project, on the public exhibition which will be held at the Kensington Park Community Centre from 31 May to 12 July 2022.

The new housing proposed for Kensington North will be one of the new precincts proposed by the Randwick Council, along with those proposed for West Randwick, Arthur Street, Magill Street, and Kingsford South.

For more information about Council’s Kensington North HIA, visit randwick.nsw.gov.au.

Expert in UNSW Kensington Sees Promising Future for Flying Cars

An aerospace design expert from UNSW Kensington School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering believes that flying cars, once a concept only seen in sci-fi movies, could soon be a reality that will help motorists travel without road congestion.

Dr Sonya Brown, a senior lecturer in Aerospace Design at UNSW Kensington, said that variants of hovering motor vehicles have been in emerging around the world as companies invest in research and development projects to fine-tune the technology and design so that flying cars would become “more versatile than traditional aircraft and helicopters.”

Engineers are working on prototype mash-ups of a drone and small aircraft. These vehicles should be able to fly above ground but below commercial airplanes and cover a distance of 250 kilometres in one ride.

“The underlying technology that’s so important with flying cars is the ability to both take off and land vertically and fly horizontally as well. This makes the mechanics much more complex than a helicopter which primarily has vertical propulsion,” Dr Brown said.

“And that’s why we’re calling them flying cars because they resemble the type of travel we would do with cars.”

Most prototypes are also designed with electrically powered rotors that operate with rechargeable batteries, which means flying cars will be sustainable green vehicles that won’t emit toxins to the environment. However, Dr Brown said engineers should also work on bringing the noise down to an acceptable level as there will be heaps of these vehicles above the sky.

“It’s important that we consider the impact the noise will have for people in their homes below.”

Dr Brown also sees a few bumps ahead before flying cars take off as regulations with traffic control use and flight paths have to be established to prevent accidents and collisions.

“If we take a closer look at some of the flying cars in development, they are flown by highly trained and qualified pilots. But if we want to make them more accessible, then we need to bring the licencing requirements down,” the expert said.

“It will be up to regulators and managing Government bodies around the world to work out what licensing category it fits into it – because currently there isn’t one.”

UNSW Expert Explains Why New Slinda Pills is the Safer Contraceptive Option

A new contraceptive pill has been made available for Australian women who previously developed blood clots from birth control medication. Slinda pills have been deemed the safer option by Dr Terri Foran of the University of NSW Sexual Health in Kensington.

Slinda is exclusively a progestogen contraceptive pill that works well for breastfeeding women, as well as those diagnosed with hypertension, obesity, and migraines with aura. It’s also safe for women over 51 years old who may still need contraception but cannot take oestrogen contraceptive pills due to the side effects.

In Australia, most birth control pills available contain a combination of oestrogen and progestogen that may lead to headaches and blood clots. For every 10,000 women, five to 12 will develop blood clots because of their contraceptive pills.

According to Dr Foran, drugmakers in the 1950s added oestrogen in contraceptive pills to help control the bleeding better. Eventually, most worrying side effects have been proven to be oestrogen related. The UNSW Sexual Health expert said that no blood clots were reported for studies done for Slinda.

The pill works to thicken the mucus in the cervix and thin the uterus lining thus women who take the drug will experience infrequent periods.

Unlike other progestogen pills, Slinda doesn’t have a three-hour window for missed doses. Women can take it within 24 hours to catch up on their doses. Some of the most common side effects of this new drug include a mild diuretic effect, fluid retention, constipation, increase in acne, and breast tenderness.

The Slinda pills, however, are not part of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and could be available only through private prescriptions for $30 a month.

115-year-old ‘Esmarks’ To Close For $4.5 Million Upgrades

Photo credit: Eastern Suburbs Little Athletics Centre/Twitter

The 115-year-old ES Marks Athletics Field in Kensington will be closed temporarily in a few weeks after plans for its $4.5 million upgrades were finally approved.

Read: Kensington House With No Bathroom, Kitchen & Power Sells for $4.7 Million

The field’s 400-m synthetic track and high and long jump areas will receive upgrades, whilst lights will be enhanced to extend the facility’s use past sundown. Also part of the upgrades are tree planting, fixing the car parks, and building new coach pick up and drop off zones.

The project is part of a 50-year vision for Greater Sydney’s Open Space and Parklands, which aims to create a city within a park that will deliver a sustainable network of green space throughout the city.

Planning and Public Spaces Minister Rob Stokes believes the project would revitalise a venue that would help train school children and the next generation of professional athletes.

“Parks are for everyone, no matter where you live, and we need to shift our way of managing individual parks to a model that benefits Greater Sydney as a whole,” Minister Stokes said in a media release.

“How we collectively run these parklands is crucial. The white paper proposes a new Greater Sydney Parklands Trust to act as a city-wide champion for existing and, excitingly, future parks,” he added.

“We need the right focus for community participation, governance, funding, and operating frameworks, along with strong and enduring funding streams, to deliver on the ambitions of our 50-Year vision for Sydney’s parklands,” said Minister Stokes.

Greater Sydney Parklands, the umbrella agency working on Sydney’s parks, was formed in 2020 to oversee the project. ES Marks will be closed starting 6 September 2021 for major construction works. Based on projected time, works are expected to be completed by April 2022.

About Moore Park E.S. Marks Athletics Field

Lord Mayor Ernest Samuel Marks writing at his desk, Sydney, ca. 1930 (Photo credit: https://nla.gov.au/)

Also known to locals as ‘Esmark,’ the field was established in 1906 as Sydney Athletics Field. It was renamed to ES Marks Athletics Field in 1947, in recognition of Ernest Samuel Marks, an Australian sporting administrator and also a former Lord Mayor of Sydney. He managed three Australian Olympic teams in 1908, 1912 and 1932.

Famous athletes who trained or competed at the field include Sebastian Coe, Daley Thompson, Carl Lewis and Maurice Greene. Some prominent Australians such Kerry Saxby-Junna, Matt Shirvington, Louise Sauvage, Melinda Gainsford-Taylor and Cathy Freeman.

Esmark is the home ground for Hakoah Sydney, Sydney FC Prague and Yugal soccer clubs. It was also used by the United States national athletics team during the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

Kensington House With No Bathroom, Kitchen & Power Sells for $4.7 Million

A Kensington house, described as “neglected,” “uninhabitable” and doesn’t come with a kitchen and bathroom, has sold for $4.7 million during an auction.

Located on 25 Duke Street, the Federation charmer standing on a 556 square meter corner is on zoning that will allow the new owner to subdivide the property. The new owner reportedly checked the house for just five minutes before placing a bid. However, the Sydney local had been eyeing the property for 10 long years before it finally hit the market.

The real estate agents handling the sale said that they were actually inundated with enquiries, including those from overseas, when the Kensington house was listed for a month. Interested investors wanted to either restore the structure or completely tear it down to build a new house in such a good location.

The Kensington house is within walking distance of the Royal Randwick Racecourse and quite close to the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

But how did this house get into such a run-down state? The Savordos family bought the property in 2005 for $1.1 million with the intention of restoring it. However, their plans didn’t progress as the real estate agent said that restoration was “too much work,” so the house was left as it is for 16 years.

Apart from the missing kitchen and bathrooms, which were ripped apart during the Savordos’ renovation, the house also didn’t have electricity. Neighbours also said that, prior to the listing, the backyard grass was almost knee-high, allowing for snakes to seek refuge.

Despite its condition, the property’s value has quadrupled. The new owner, who lives just half a mile away from the Kensington house, hasn’t divulged the plans for the property.

ES Marks Athletics Field Kensington To Receive New Upgrades

The ES Marks Athletics Field in Kensington is due to receive some much-needed upgrades worth $4.8 million.

These upgrades intend to provide the field with a complete and utter overhaul, improving the 400-metre synthetic track and high and long jump areas while simultaneously enhancing the various facilities and facets of the area. These include, but are not limited to, the lighting, the tree-planting plans, and the car park.

A series of new coach pick-up and drop-off zones will also be included in the roster of upgrades. Rob Stokes, Planning and Public Spaces Minister, stated that the venue would be revitalised and provide the children who would make up newer generations of athletes with a place to train and practise for their respective sporting activities.

The ES Marks Athletics Field has been a community hallmark for 115 years, being the only facility of its kind along the eastern side of Sydney. With the upgrades fully implemented and operational, the field can be more readily available and up-to-standard.

For instance, the new and improved lighting all across the venue will help increase the number of hours the field can be used, and improved parking means increased capacity — a necessity as more and more children find themselves engaging with sports and athletics.

The venue will be closed from the 6th of September 2021 until construction is completed, which is estimated to be sometime in April in 2022. The ES Marks Athletics Field can be found at Boronia Street, Kensington.