At Thursday’s Tweed Shire Council (TSC) meeting a $51 million, 13-storey affordable housing development at 25-27 Boyd Street, Tweed Heads will be discussed (DA25/0057).
The development application (DA) seeks to build ‘80 apartments, a ground level community room and bicycle storage area, landscaping and two basement carparking levels for 66 vehicles’.
Exceeds height limits
The DA exceeds the height limit for the area (34m) by close to 10m with the maximum building height proposed as 43.65m. Under the State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021 (SEPP Housing) an additional 30 per cent building height for development which incorporates affordable housing is allowable.
The SEPP currently requires that the housing is kept as affordable housing for 15 years and it can then be released into the general market.
Tweed Mayor Chris Cherry told The Echo that, ‘we have strenuously objected to this and in our submission. We’ve asked for a guarantee that it is kept in perpetuity as community housing. If they are getting the permanent 30 per cent extra height then they should be permanently providing the affordable housing.’
Parking issues
Parking is another area where an affordable housing development gets significant gains and they are not required to provide the standard number of parks an equivalent development would require.
‘The whole reduction in parking that is allowed under affordable housing relies on the fact their tenants are less likely to have cars,’ said Cr Cherry.
‘However, if you then release that housing into the general market then you are going to see a significant increase in the cars tenants have at that site. If we keep it as community housing then there is a lot more likelihood that the parking will keep up with requirements of tenants.’
Three-bedrooms?
The 80 units are proposed to be comprised of 41 x 1 Bedroom units and 39 x 2 Bedroom units. Eight (8) of these units are designed for accessible use (adaptable). All units are to be used for affordable housing.
Responding to the proposal staff have requested that ‘Homes NSW consider including a small number of 3-bedroom units to allow for family units who may have been displaced by the floods or meet other tenant criteria (e.g. essential workers).’
Flooding
Concerns have also be highlighted over the three adaptable units on the ground floss that are within the probable maximum flood event.
‘There is significant additional further information required to ensure the development has considered all aspects such as connecting to Council infrastructure, waste management, land contamination, impacts on surrounding residents from noise and a limited supply of carparking,’ state staff in their report.
‘It is noted that the submitted Visual Impact Assessment has not considered Tweed’s Scenic Landscape Protection Policy.’ Further the ‘acoustic report has not followed the procedures set out in the NSW Noise Policy for Industry and is lacking in information to support the proposal’.
The DA is considered a state significant development and therefore the decision to progress the DA will be made by the state government not the TSC.
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