Plans for a $1.3 million rural tourism development in Bangalow that is double the size of what is usually permitted, have angered nearby residents, and drawn a recommendation of refusal from Byron Council staff.
The owner of 72 Lawlers Lane is proposing to build 12 self-contained cabins clustered around a central recreation building that is designed to cater for future rural functions and events.
Five of the cabins would have their own swimming pools, and the site would have a new internal access road with bus turnaround.
The Development Application (DA) for the site, which is owned by ‘Mr M Mamone’, is due to come before this week’s Byron Council planning meeting for assessment.
Council staff have recommended that councillors refuse permission on multiple grounds relating to the scale of the proposal, and its impact on the character, amenity, and future agricultural uses of the surrounding area.
Excessive in scale
‘The proposal is considered excessive in scale and fails to comply with Council’s adopted planning controls that generally limit rural tourist accommodation to no more than six holiday cabins per property,’ Council Planner, Ben Grant, said in his report, contained in the agenda to this week’s Council meeting.
‘Twelve tourist accommodation cabins, in combination with a large recreation building (and a potential future function centre), is of a scale that cannot be reasonably managed by the principal owner living on the property, and is likely to have an adverse impact on the character and amenity of the surrounding area if approved.’
Mr Grant found that the size and scale of the development was inconsistent with two key local planning policies, the Byron Local Environment Plan (LEP) and the Byron Development Control Plan (DCP).
This included the amount of excavation and fill required to make the owner’s plans a reality.
‘The excessive scale and density of the development, combined with the extensive excavation and filling required for the building pads, access road and bus turn-around bay will result in a built form that is not complementary to the rural character or environmental attributes of the land.’
He noted that the developer was invited to amend the application but, ‘did not take up that opportunity’.
The concerns of residents, contained in 20 separate letters of objection, echoed those of Mr Hunt.
They also raised the issues of excessive traffic generation, noise, safety and security, and the impacts on wildlife and a nearby drinking water catchment.
Overall, staff and residents both expressed the opinion that approving the development would set an undesirable precedent for future projects in the rural areas of the Byron Shire.
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