A proposal to demolish and redevelop buildings at Bondi Beach has been snubbed by a local council, which claims the plans are “offensive” and “devastating”.

Developer Toga has applied to raze four buildings and construct a new mixed-use development in their place, on the site of the Hakoah Club building on Hall Street.

Designed by Bates Smart, the development would include serviced apartment hotel rooms, residential, retail development and associated parking.

The design sets the mass of the building back from the street and seeks to incorporate the Bondi identity with a nod to art deco design and colourful detailing.

However, while Waverley Council considered Bates Smart’s proposal an example of “high quality design” and “an improvement” on the current building, this alone did not justify the variations to the development standard for height or floor space ratio demanded by the developer, it said.

The proposal reaches a height of 25 metres in an area where the maximum height is 12 metres. On this scale, the building “does not share an architectural detail commensurate with the character of the Hall Street Local Village”, a submission to the Department of Planning said. However, it also states that a reduced height of 20 metres would be satisfactory and would not obstruct the sightlines of other buildings.

In the submission, council claims Toga, a big Labor donator, failed to environmentally assess the project under SEPP 32. The department’s “failure” to demand this information from Toga could render the whole application invalid, council said.

The Hakoah Club was officially formed in 1938 by Austrian and German refugees and provided a social and sporting outlet for Jewish migrants. The club now has more than 12,000 members but vacated the building when its lease expired and was not renewed in October, despite the continued provision of the club being part of the initial development consent.

“The development proposal seeks private gains at the expense of other private lands, the public domain and the broader public interest,” the council argues.

Should the proposal be approved, it would set an “undesirable precedent” and undermine a recently introduced building envelope.

Council is urging the Department of Planning to refuse the application, citing the Ashington Development in the Woollahra Council area as a model.