John Lazarus, Byron Bay
Byron Shire Council is doing Review of Planning Controls for the Byron Bay Town Centre. Submissions are due by 28 March.
Council’s proposals, allegedly, are to adopt height planning controls, (and increase from 9m to 11.5m on two sections of town) but Council has already given consent for precedents to breach existing height limits. A developer can legally rely on these to seek future breaches of the Reviews alleged heights limits. Therefore, this Review proposal is just worthless window dressing that now has legal backing.
The Review also proposes a restriction on developers providing on-site car parking, allegedly to get cars out of town, but this Masterplan-proposed-get-more-development-area facade only provides more development on a site, with more cars circulating to find parking on the public roads.
The Review also proposes increasing the 9m height limit to 11.5m on the area bounded by Bay Lane to the north, Lawson Street to the south, Jonson Street to the west and Middleton Street to the east (the proposed 11.5m height limit is likely to be breached due to Councils consent for legal precedent breaches). The Review also proposes increasing the 9m height limit to 11.5m for the vacant blocks at the bottom of Jonson Street near Mitre 10. I am advised that a developer proposes a construction there that would take advantage of these height increases.
Council should be upfront and tell the community what the developer wants to do before the public considers supporting this height increase.
The Review also wants to give developers permission for further height increases of between 0.4–1.2m throughout the entire town centre if a developer can claim it is to get the development out of potential floods.
The Review wants to change the town centre LEP (Local Environment Plan) zoning, but Council provides insufficient reason to support that, which leads to the question – why?
The Review also alleges that Council will not be changing the Masterplan proposal to reduce or eliminate developments that required open space but Council has already given consent to breach the existing open space requirement (and the 9m height) on the new mall development proceeding at the bottom of Jonson Street. This is on the basis of the developers DA statements that the extra storey and lower open space is supported by the Masterplan (yes, the original DA was rejected by the State Government Planning Panel, and yet, Council has given consents to breach existing regulations).
I’d urge people to put submissions to Council that the whole Review, with its entire dubious changes, be rejected. Mmake a comment at www.yoursaybyronshire.com.au
