An application to remove/demolish a single-storey 1920s home in the Bangalow Heritage Conservation area and replace it with two, two-storey houses with swimming pools has been refused by Byron Shire Council.
Under the application, which came before Council’s last meeting, the owners of the federation-style home sought permission for the $1.19 million development on 7 Leslie Street, Bangalow.
In their report on the application, Council staff noted that the existing home was ‘not specifically listed as a heritage item’, but remained a ‘noted contributory building within the statutory Bangalow Heritage Conservation area (HCA)’.
They also stated that the Statement of Heritage Impact report submitted with the application was ‘inadequate’.
Council’s heritage advisor concluded that the proposed redevelopment was ‘not supported, as it is in direct conflict with the adopted statutory policies framework to conserve the heritage significance, fabric, setting, and views of the Bangalow Heritage Conservation Area’.
Different view
However, speaking during the public access section of last week’s meeting, the co-owner of the property, Carrie Christensen, expressed a different view.
‘We would never ever have considered buying the property if we knew the house could never be removed,’ Ms Christensen told the meeting.
‘We exchanged contracts to buy this house and three months later the owner of the house lodged a heritage application and did not inform us’.
These claims have been refuted by the former owner.
Ms Christensen said, ‘Council did not notify us until two years later when the DA was already on exhibition.
‘At no point has Council told us that we could not remove the house, until the development application was listed.’
Heritage issue
But Ian Holmes from the Bangalow Community Association disputed the claim that the owners could not have known about the heritage issue.
‘A competent surveying search would have conveyed to the new owners that it exists well within the Bangalow HCA… and was therefore subject to significant heritage constraints,’ Mr Holmes said.
He also said that the owner’s offer to move the house to another site, either by selling or donating it, would not offer sufficient protection.
‘[This] would destroy any semblance of heritage protection, because the heritage concerns both the house and its connection to place and history.’
A majority of councillors agreed with the arguments of Mr Holmes and Council staff, and voted to refuse the application on eight heritage related grounds.
They also voted to include the existing dwelling in the Bangalow Heritage Conservation Area. Two Greens councillors, Delta Kay and Michelle Lowe, voted against.
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