4 - Special Character Areas
Special Character Areas
Jeffery Avenue Special Character Area
In 1895 this land was vacant and at the edge of the developed area of Parramatta. It is one of the first areas in the vicinity of Parramatta to be totally designed and constructed by the Housing Commission, which resumed the land on 25 July 1947. It was surveyed in 1948 and the subdivision was drawn up by Parramatta surveyor H.C. de Low for the Housing Commission.
The road layout is curvilinear in the manner typical of the post-war era. The streets are named after Parramatta aldermen and mayors including:
- Robert James Brown, an alderman who was also the manager of the Lidcombe Old Men’s home
- William John Irwin, a hardware merchant who was mayor when Parramatta was declared a city
- Phillip Henry Jeffery, a merchant and manager of the firm John Bardsley & Co, and mayor in 1940
The area was developed with detached dwellings, mostly in brick with some fibro-cement with brick bases. It has a high standard of amenity, and with good management, will become more special as time goes by. The present residents stand to gain most from this special care.
Character of the area
- curvilinear road layout typical of the 1940s and 50s
- consistency in the scale, siting and design of houses with only minor obvious changes
- detached houses — two or three bays wide, with a projecting bay, often including the porch with wrought iron railing
- houses in brown, mottled brick or fibro-cement with brick base; low hipped roofs in terracotta or cement tiles, some with gabled ends clad in white painted weatherboards
- double hung sash windows with timber frames
- grassed front gardens merging with verge, some front boundaries defined by planting and a few low brick walls
- wire or paling fences separating the front and rear gardens
- narrow grassed verge without footpaths
- street tree planting of bottle brushes, in recent decades
Approach to planning controls
Council’s planning policies for this area are directed towards ensuring that development is consistent with the existing character of the area. The main elements of that character are the consistency and character of the houses and the mature tress in the gardens and streets.
Development consistent with the existing character of the area
- additions at the rear of houses designed to have minimum impact on the facade and roof of the house, using similar materials, such as bricks matching original bricks
- additions that protect the views and amenity of neighbouring properties
- garages or carports in rear gardens
- carports beside the house at least three metres back from the front wall
- wire fences no higher than one metre
Development not consistent with the existing character of the area
- additions resulting in a wall height greater than six metres
- painting, rendering or re-skinning of brick houses or the brick base of houses
- painting, rendering or demolition of brick fences
- front fences other than low walls marking the boundary
