The community frustration at Byron Shire Council was palpable on Monday night as they sought to understand why the draft development control plan (DCP) for the former Mullumbimby Hospital site failed so effectively at reflecting all the contributions they had made to the process.
Following years of fighting for the land to be retained in public hands after the closure of Mullumbimby Hospital, when NSW Health had said they would sell the site off, the community had participated in a year-long project reference group (PRG) that had come up with three proposals for the site based around a village concept. The idea was to have downsizing opportunities for older residents and those with mobility issues on the flatter areas, family and worker housing along with village facilities in the middle with higher density one and two bedroom units on the steeper areas of the site. This was designed around the principle that it would include a range of affordability in housing that reflected the need across the community.
So the proposed entry-level 20 per cent affordable housing outlined in the DCP seriously failed to meet community expectations. And from reports of the meeting between the Mullumbimby Residents Association (MRA) and Council staff in relation to the draft DCP, the key concern from BSC staff appeared to be the future saleability of the site to a developer rather than meeting community housing needs (see page 3).
The reason this is such a focus is that Council bought the land for $1 but then had to borrow $6m and pay interest to fund the remediation bill that nobody seemed to expect.
When the PRG had put forward their village proposals it led to the amendment of the local environment plan (LEP) to allow heights for the Mullumbimby Hospital site and some surrounding streets to be raised from 9m to 11.5m. For a Shire and local community that has fought hard for height restrictions, this was a significant concession made on the premise that the site would be meeting future community housing needs, not being sold off to a developer to meet the remediation debt already incurred by Council.
So if Council seeks to sell the site in an englobo sale to a developer, which Mullumbimby Hospital Action Group (MHAG), who originally started the fight to save the site for the community specifically reject, then the LEP should be revisited. The height limits were extended on the basis that the site had the community backing of local, affordable, community housing. If the site is no longer going to meet that expectation then it is only right that the LEP be amended to the former height limit of 9m. And the argument that ‘it would hamper efforts to sell the site’ to developers is not something that the community should accept.
Aslan Shand, editor
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