Darren Coyne
Ballina shire council will hold a workshop to determine whether to allow a $4.4 million three-story development in the heart of Lennox Head.
Councillors spent over an hour at yesterday’s meeting debating an application to build the mixed-use development on three lots on land between Rayner Lane and Ballina Street.
The applicant, a Mullumbimby pharmacist, wants to consolidate the three lots into one, and erect two buildings on the site.
If approved the development would consist of a mix of commercial premises for food and drink and retail outlets, along with a range of shop-top housing units.
The development would include two buildings, with Building A being two stories with three separate commercial/food and drink premises on the ground floor and five office premises at first floor level/alfresco area.
Building B would be three storys, and would include four shop top housing premises with office spaces below.
The three parcels of land until recently housed the Lennox Thai Gardens Restaurant and motel accommodation, although they were demolished in late 2014.
A previous application to build 16 mixed use tourist/residential units in a two storey building on the sites was never completed due to the developers claiming it was ‘financially unviable and unmarketable within Lennox Head’.
In order for the new proposal to be built, the council would have to make changes to its development control plan for the area.
Ballina mayor David Wright told Echonetdaily that the proposal generated a debate, which lasted well over an hour.
‘The DCP might need changing and while we’re not against that, we decided to have a workshop to discuss the details,’ he said.
He said a number of objections had been received during the exhibition period.
Those objections centred around issues such as increase in traffic on Rayner Lane, that the height of the three-storey building was excessive, and that it would impact on the amenity of the area.
Cr Wright said a workshop to thrash out the details of the proposal would be held prior to next month’s council meeting.
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