Australia, Sept. 1 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on July 31:

1. COMMISSIONER: St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney has been a part of the Sydney skyline in some form for more than a century, and a Catholic Church has been a feature of its site since a church of that name was first dedicated in 1836.

2. Put simply, it is a site of significance to the Catholic community in Australia. It is also a site of heritage significance for the built form that stands on the site.

3. St Mary's Cathedral is the oldest Catholic church in Australia, and the former school building on the site, variously known as Chapter Hall or Chapter House, is the oldest building in the St Mary's Precinct and possibly the oldest intact Catholic school building in Australia.

4. Together, St Mary's Cathedral and Chapter Hall are identified as items of State heritage significance, and form part of what is known as the St Mary's Cathedral Precinct, which is bounded by St Mary's Road to the north, Cathedral Street to the south, and College Street to the west.

5. For completeness, the St Mary's Cathedral Precinct also includes a Sacristy building to the immediate west of the site proposed for the development, Cathedral House, and St Mary's Cathedral College. A large public square and public swimming pool complex collectively known as Cook + Phillip Park lies to the south, outside the St Mary's Cathedral Precinct.

6. The St Mary's Cathedral Precinct is a reasonably compact campus of buildings from across eras, ranging from the sandstone heritage informed by European styles of Gothic revival, to more utilitarian buildings in brick and precast concrete evident in Cathedral House and St Mary's Cathedral College.

7. The Applicant in these proceedings, the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Archdiocese of Sydney (the Archdiocese) proposes a six-storey building to serve as a Chancery to be located to the east of the Cathedral in a space between the Cathedral and Chapter Hall, currently used as a car park.

8. The Chancery is proposed to comprise the following functions:

1) Offices.

2) A bookstore and cafe, and public toilets.

3) Community meeting rooms.

9. Landscaping works are also proposed to the perimeter of the Chancery building, including but not limited to, the replacement of a modern aluminium palisade fence fronting St Mary's Road with a fence comprising sandstone piers and metalwork.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/198591a15723fa8dd2d7aadd)

Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.