Paul Bibby
Controversial plans for a dual occupancy development in Brunswick Heads have been rejected by Byron Council.
The owner of 16 Short Street, a Melbourne-based property developer, was seeking permission to demolish the existing single-storey cottage on the site and replace it with two large, double storey town houses, each with five bedrooms and five bathrooms.
But his development application (DA) was knocked back by Byron Council on Thursday (March 18) with councillors unanimously voting to knock back the proposal.
The decision may come as a relief to the approximately 130 local residents who formally objected to the proposal, including immediate neighbour George Stinson who has just had his own dual occupancy DA approved.
More than a 130 local residents formally objected to the proposal, arguing that it was out of character with the surrounding dwellings owing to its size, which exceeded height plane rules for that part of town.
They also feared that, rather than becoming two family homes as claimed by the developer, the development would be used as a quasi boarding house or an ‘Airbnb motel’.
Council staff recommended that the DA be refused, noting that the developer had declined to make changes to address the overshadowing and size issues.
thanks Council, this proposal was a real shocker.
Good sense has prevailed.
Thank you to the councillors!!