Concerning the underground car parking issue in Brunswick Heads, the wording of the development control plan (DCP) says in plain English that underground car parking at the proposed site is not allowed. So where do some on Council, and Council lawyer Mr Ralph James, get that we are grasping at straws from? This was NOT explained in the decision, at least not in the article in The Echo. This site is also only just above the water table, one of the lowest flood-prone areas in Brunswick Heads.
The population of Brunswick Heads is around 1,650 and yet 1,000 petitioners and the many letters written are not enough? Mr James said what he said in Council, but the actual evidence to back this view has not been presented. Mr James and Council need to be able to explain to the community in plain English how they can interpret the DCP as meaning it’s permissible to have this underground car parking here when it is not allowed.
Someone, being Mr James in this case, saying they dispute something is nothing but hearsay. For Council to be swayed by this is simply unconscionable. If Council and/or Mr James cannot clearly and simply explain and publish their explanation so that the community can understand how their opinion, which is not a fact, was arrived at (that swayed councillors), then something fishy is going on, or those making decisions do not have the ability to back their arguments.
