Smash Repair Owner’s Seven-Storey Shoptop Greenlit

The operators of a smash repair shop in Parramatta have won approval to tear down the business and build a seven-storey shop-top residential tower in its place.

Cumberland City Council’s planning panel voted unanimously to green-light the project of 55 residential apartments, rooftop communal open space and two levels of basement parking.

The approval allows for the demolition of multiple older-style commercial buildings on the 2083-sq-m site at 4-6 Sherwood Road in Merrylands, 3km from Parramatta’s centre and 25kms from the Sydney CBD.

One of those businesses is Merrylands and Holroyd Smash Repairs. Online documents show the firm’s director Matthew Silvestro is also a director at M and J Property Investments, listed at the same address as the proposed development.

The plans call for a mix of two and three-bedroom apartments above ground-floor commercial space of about 473 square metres.

Two basement levels will allow residential parking for 53 cars and some bicycles.

Construction costs are estimated at $18.6 million.

In reaching a decision, the planning panel said it was satisfied a request by the developer to exceed the maximum height allowable under the council’s local environmental plan “had been adequately addressed and the development would be in the public interest.”

▲ An artist's impression of the Merrylands Shoptop approval.

There were no submissions received by the council during a two-week public exhibition in May last year.

The developers hired environmental consultants to carry out a detailed site investigation in December, 2021.

Geotechnical Consultants Australia identified a single hotspot associated with asbestos contamination from 17 soil samples from eight boreholes across the property  The consultant said in a report the site can be made suitable for the proposed development and land use provided certain conditions were met.

In approving the project, the planning panel said it was satisfied the development controls pertaining to private open space, apartment mix, number of storeys, and building setbacks were adequately addressed.

“Subject to the recommended conditions of development consent, the proposal will not have any unreasonable impacts on the amenity of neighbouring properties or the locality,” the panel said.

The developers did not return calls requesting comment.