4.10 Enmore
Part 4 – Place Specific Controls
Enmore is located on the lands of the Gadigal. Gadigal lands extend approximately from the southern side of Sydney Harbour from South Head to around what is now known as Petersham, with the southern boundary approximately lying in the area that now forms the Alexandra Canal and Cooks River.
Gadigal Country in Enmore is within a valley between Petersham and Newtown giving a north to south window for landscapes around Parramatta River and Cooks River. This suburb does not have natural rivers or major streams running through it, but it is part of a wider catchment area where stormwater flows towards nearby waterways. Stormwater from the area generally drains north toward the Parramatta River/Sydney Harbour or south towards the Cooks River. The topography in Enmore features a ridgeline that runs along the main roads, with the land descending gently or moderately towards the south/south-east toward the Cooks River. The original ecological community present in Enmore is predominantly Sydney Turpentine Ironbark Forest.
This Country has been used for seasonally moving, travelling, camping and gathering resources for thousands of generations of people Aboriginal Peoples. Enmore, like other areas of Gadigal Country, has been impacted by colonisation, resulting in the topography of the land and the vegetation being severely altered. Today, Country remains important to First Nations Peoples. In the 2021 Census, the Australian Bureau of Statistics published that 1.5% of the population of Enmore identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.
Enmore's existing character is defined by its vibrant, eclectic streetscapes, with a strong emphasis on heritage and cultural diversity. The suburb features a mix of Victorian and Federation-era terraces, cottages, and shopfronts, particularly along Enmore Road, where historic facades with decorative parapets and traditional awnings create a distinctive, cohesive streetscape. Narrow streets, fine-grain lot patterns, and a human-scale built form contribute to its intimate, walkable environment. The area's thriving arts and live music scene, independent retail shops, and diverse dining options enhance its lively, bohemian atmosphere. Mature street trees, limited setbacks, and active frontages foster strong connections between public and private spaces, reinforcing Enmore's unique urban village character.
The Desired Future Character of Enmore is defined by the preservation of its predominantly low-density and single-storey residential streetscapes. Original architectural details, roof forms, and building alignments are protected to maintain the neighbourhood's spatial quality and architectural heritage.
The commercial core along Enmore Road is characterised by a "nil-setback" street edge, creating a strong sense of enclosure and urban vitality. Growth is facilitated through sympathetic mixed-use developments and minimal-impact rear-lane additions that support creative industries, sympathetically integrated into the suburb's heritage fabric.
Objectives
To maintain the fine-grain streetscapes, human-scale built form, and historical architectural elements in the neighbourhood.
To preserve the predominantly low-density residential character of the neighbourhood including original detailing and finishes.
To maintain distinctly single storey residential streetscapes within the neighbourhood.
To protect groups or runs of buildings which retain their original roof forms, original detailing, and finishes.
To ensure development maintains and enhances the existing character of each heritage conservation area within the neighbourhood.
To protect, preserve and enhance other significant public domain elements within the neighbourhood including landscaping, fencing, open space, kerb and guttering, views and vistas and prevailing subdivision patterns.
To ensure that buildings provide strong definition to the street through retention of the existing nil building setbacks in Enmore Road.
To facilitate mixed-use developments that support a diverse range of local businesses, arts, and cultural activities, fostering a dynamic, inclusive community.
To ensure the Enmore Road Special Entertainment Precinct continues to support creative and cultural industries that rely on the night-time economy, including the entertainment and live music sector.
Controls
Development, including land uses and urban design, is to enhance and achieve the desired future character of the neighbourhood while retaining elements that contribute to that character and meeting all relevant DCP requirements.
Built form and subdivision proposals are to:
- a)Encourage re-instatement of original fencing materials and dimensions
- b)Retain existing outhouses within this neighbourhood
- c)Retain original building alignments and setbacks
Only provide additional density along rear lanes where the impact on the neighbourhood is minimal.
This section contains objectives and control that apply to the Heritage Conservation Areas listed below and shown in Figure 4.10.1.
- Camden Street and James Street Heritage Conservation Area apply to the land listed as C52
- Enmore House Heritage Conservation Area apply to the land listed as C53
The objectives and controls for the following Heritage Conservation Areas can be found elsewhere in the DCP:
- Llewellyn Estate HCA (C68) – Part 4.16 – Marrickville Neighbourhood
- Enmore-Newtown HCA (C71) – Part 4.17 – Newtown Neighbourhood
- King Street and Enmore Road HCA (C73) – Part 4.17 – Newtown Neighbourhood
- Kingston South HCA (C89) – Part 4.21 – Stanmore Neighbourhood
The eleven-property group of Victorian dwellings at Nos. 89A–89E and No. 91 Camden Street, and Nos. 11–19 James Street, Enmore, is of local heritage significance for its association with the subdivision of the Enmore Estate and residential development in Enmore between the 1840s and 1880s. It demonstrates the evolution of modest housing types in the second half of the 19th century and retains a high degree of original fabric and streetscape integrity.
Key Feature:
- Part of the Village of Enmore Estate subdivision dating from the 1840s.
- Group illustrates the chronology of subdivision patterns and residential typologies in Enmore during the second half of the 19th century.
- Association with John Garsed, a prominent and notorious builder and developer of the period.
- Two rows of Victorian single-storey attached cottages (Nos. 89A–89E Camden Street and Nos. 11–19 James Street) built circa 1880–1881 as speculative development.
- Good examples of Victorian row houses accommodating the expanding population of Enmore.
- Original fabric and features of principal elevations of terrace rows largely maintained.
- Single-storey freestanding Victorian Georgian cottage (No. 91 Camden Street) retains much of its original fabric and demonstrates distinctive aesthetic attributes of the Victorian Georgian style.
Note: These controls apply in addition to the general heritage provisions in Section 2.12 of this DCP. Applicants are to address both the general heritage controls and the locality-specific controls below.
Objectives
To facilitate development that is consistent with the statement of significance and controls for Camden Street and James Street Heritage Conservation Area.
Controls
Retain the following elements that define the heritage significance:
- a)All pre-1881 buildings
- b)The site layout of the terrace group at Nos. 89A-89E Camden Street, together with its right of way leading to the rear of No. 91 Camden Street
The Enmore House Estate Heritage Conservation Area is of local heritage significance as the development of the 1883 subdivision of the grounds and former site of Enmore House, which was demolished at that time. Its aesthetic values are derived from the terrace house form and the regularity of the streetscapes it creates and reinforces. The area contains high-quality examples of terrace housing intended for the middle classes and demonstrates the evolution of the Inner West from an early estate to a suburban cultural landscape.
Key Features:
- Residential character demonstrates the culmination of the terrace typology as the standard housing form in urban areas.
- Historic pattern of development evident in substantial Victorian villas, single and two-storey 19th century and Federation period terraces and detached housing.
- Consistent subdivision and streetscape pattern with little evidence of re-subdivision or redevelopment after the main period of development.
- Substantially intact building forms and streetscape rhythms providing evidence of original terrace and villa typologies.
- Groups and runs of terraces and houses emphasising local topography through roof ridges, facades and fences, creating distinctive streetscapes.
- Evidence of socio-topographic stratification with substantial development on higher ground and modest workers' terraces and cottages on lower terrain.
- Cohesive built forms within terrace and small-lot house typologies, including:
- Groups and runs of terraces with strong streetscape qualities of form, scale, rhythm and materials
- High-quality detailing to front elevations of intact and substantially intact houses and terraces
- Simplification of scale and detailing towards the rear, including window size and visual prominence
- High urban density, narrow streets and frequent attached buildings creating an enclosed, intimate streetscape quality (except Edgeware Road which has an open, panoramic quality).
- Original iron palisade fences contributing to streetscape character.
- Low incidence of major alterations, additions or infill development.
Note: These controls apply in addition to the general heritage provisions in Section 2.12 of this DCP. Applicants are to address both the general heritage controls and the locality-specific controls below.
Objectives
To facilitate development that is consistent with the statement of significance and controls for Enmore House Heritage Conservation Area.
Controls
Retain the following elements that define the heritage significance:
- a)All pre-1916 buildings
- b)Topography that influences the open streetscape of Edgeware Road
- c)Residential character demonstrated through consistency of architectural style within streetscapes - single and two storey 19th century terrace housing plus large two storey 19th century villas to Edgeware Road
- d)Residential character demonstrated through the single and two storey 19th century and Federation period terrace housing typologies