George Stinson, Brunswick Heads
It appears that the Byron Shire Council‘s planning department has had a ‘road to Damascus’ moment regarding the overdevelopment of 16 Short Street, Brunswick Heads. You know the one – two swimming pools, 14 toilets, 10 bathrooms, massive intrusions above the building height plane, and 135 written submissions against the DA – yes, that one.
Now that the developer has finally been required to submit the mandatory shadow diagrams, the Council planning staff’s report opinion has changed from the development ‘will not adversely affect solar access of adjoining properties’, to ‘is considered to generate unreasonable impacts on the neighbouring development in terms of overshadowing’.
The staff planning report now recommends refusal of the DA, because of this considerable overshadowing, to be considered by councillors at next Thursday‘s meeting.
One may have hoped that it could also have addressed the issues of massive inconsistency with the bulk, scale and character requirements of the Development Control Plan (DCP), the true nature of the character of the development, or the stated intention of providing two kitchens per dwelling. Hopefully the councillors will include these and other contraventions in their reasons when they honour their principles, and their duty to voters, and refuse the development at Thursday’s meeting.
Neighbours are confident of a favourable outcome. They are also preparing for the next steps, should Council go against the department’s updated recommendation and advice.
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