Mixed use development on heritage-listed Forestry School site in Yarralumla faces next test

Oakstand Property Group, on behalf of Gunyar Pty Ltd, plans to develop a mixed-use precinct on the 10.4 hectare block, home to the heritage-registered Forestry School building.

The plans detail the construction of between 250-300 apartment units, a small boutique hotel, aged care facility, and commercial offices.

The proposal is still being considered by the National Capital Authority, after an earlier iteration was knocked back last year over concerns the buildings would up to five storeys.

The revised plans indicate most of the buildings will stand at three storeys, with an attic.

But the presence of the Golden Sun Moth, listed as a vulnerable species, on the land also means the development needs to be greenlit by the federal environment department in order to progress.

Two small patches of low-quality moth habitat were found, an ecological report prepared for the developer by Capital Ecology stated.

In 2019, 10 male Golden Sun Moths were recorded across four surveys on 0.55 hectares of the land, though no female or pupal cases were identified.

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The developer wants to preserve 60 per cent of the habitat, but permanently remove the remaining 0.22 hectares. The report said this is unlikely to impact the species.

"Given the degraded state of the habitat, the small-scale nature of the impact, and the likely non-development scenario, the proposed action is unlikely to reduce the long-term viability of the Golden Sun Moth in the locality."

The historic site housed the Australian Forestry School between 1927 and 1964, and was sold to Gunyar Pty Ltd in June 2002.

The CSIRO retained a 20-year lease for use of the land, which expired this year.

While the crown lease is held by the Gunyar trust, the beneficiary is the Shepherd Foundation, a charity that helps children with hearing loss.

The master plan for the site was developed in 2020, and an application to amend the National Capital Plan to allow for the development has been lodged with the NCA.

Yarralumla Residents Association vice president Mike Lewis said the group held some concerns for the environmental impact of the development, but were mainly focused on the heritage of the site.

"It's the whole of the precinct that's heritage listed, the landscape, and the views and those sorts of things," he said.

"If you have a development of the scale of 275 dwellings, plus a hotel, plus an aged care facility that's a pretty big development, and we're concerned that those attributes that are protected by the heritage listing will be lost."

The site is subject to a Heritage Management Plan, which includes provisions such as 20-metre curtilages around the heritage buildings.

"If there were fewer apartments then that could be okay, but at the moment, it's just too much," Mr Lewis said.

"And there are knock-on effects to the rest of the suburb in terms of traffic and parking."

Documents submitted to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water are available here, with public responses to this application open until December 21.

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