6 - Special Character Areas
Special Character Areas
Sylvia Gardens, Northmead
This area was once part of the Oakes Estate. It was quarried by the Moxham family under lease from before 1887 and was known as the Whitehaven Quarry. The Moxhams were significant quarrymen and pastoralists and a notable Parramatta family. They purchased this area from the Oakes Estate in 1900.
W. D. Moxham’s deceased estate passed to his trustees in October 1935 and the Whitehaven Quarry was subdivided and offered for sale privately by the Sylvia Gardens Estate Ltd in June and December 1937. The width of allotments was subsequently increased, without altering the road layout, in keeping with the prevailing standards of the 1940s.
The surveyors of the Estate were Lockie Gannon and Campbell, who designed several of the subdivisions in the Ermington Dundas area.
Character of the area
- designed around the quarry, evidence of which survives in the rock faces of the internal reserve
- setting, around quarry with views to bushland reserve beyond
- similarity in the age of houses — 1940s along Windsor road, mostly 1950s—60s in other streets
- uniformity of scale, size and materials of houses — single storey, tiled roofs, walls of brick, fibro or timber, some of which is a recladding of the original fibro house
- wider gap on one side of each house to allow rear garden car access to garage in back garden
- low fences, which give views of each garden
Approach to planning for this area
The importance of the area lies in its high quality private subdivision that incorporated the latest design principles to create an attractive residential area. With two exceptions, the buildings are modest cottages, typical of the era of post-war shortages in building materials. 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 modest scale and character of the houses, and the associated parkland.
Development consistent with the existing character of the area
- second storey additions, to a wall height limit of six metres, designed to protect neighbours’ amenity and to fit in with the design of the original house
- additions in lighter weight materials than those of the house are preferred
- rear garden placement of garages and carports
- recladding of fibro houses in similar light weight materials is preferred. However, bagged or rendered brick cladding using colours to blend with existing housing is also acceptable
Development not consistent with the existing character of the area
- new building or additions that result in a wall height greater than six metres
- garage or carport to the front or side of house or blocking driveway space to back garden
- roof cladding other than terracotta tiles
- fences higher than 1.2 metres
