Last Tuesday saw around 40-50 Suffolk Park residents come together to discuss the latest development application (DA 10.2026.476.1) for 9-15 Clifford Street, Suffolk Park.
Two previous DAs from Denwol have been refused by the Land and Environment Court and this is the fifth public meeting addressing development at this site over the last four-and-a-half years.
The developer told The Echo that this ‘is a very different scheme to the one refused by the Land and Environment Court’.
Project manager, Mark Howard of Vode said, ‘We’ve spent the last few years reworking this site from the ground up. We took the court’s decision seriously. We’ve listened to the community, to Council and to the court, and the plan now on exhibition is the result.’
However, those attending the meeting said they still have many of the same concerns as they had with previous iterations of the DA.
Traffic concerns
While conceding some mitigation in the latest plans, many local residents said the central concerns still remain including traffic, size and bulk, and tree removal.
‘Residents raised traffic congestion, exacerbated parking pressures on our already choked streets, and safety issues as the principal concerns,’ one attendee told The Echo.
‘Traffic was the key issue. It was suggested that there should be no mixed-use development in Clifford Street until problems at the notorious Clifford Street/Broken Head intersection are solved.’ They also questioned the methodology used to assess traffic impact and ‘the veracity of the figures, along with the timeframe of the build, closure of roads, etc.’
Height concerns
Whether the three-storey height would set a precedent for three storeys in Suffolk Park was challenged by the developers, but from advice provided to organisers from Byron Council, and considering the history of the Shire, it makes it very likely that an increase in height will be used as a precedent in the future.
Wildlife corridor impacts
The removal of 17 critically endangered littoral rainforest and endangered swamp sclerophyll trees was also raised. ‘These remnants provide both feed trees and structural support for the vulnerable koala, as well as habitat and a wildlife corridor for other species,’ another attendee told The Echo.
The DA is on exhibition until 27 October. Find out more at: www.byron.nsw.gov.au/Council/Report-Requests-Feedback/Public-Notices/Nominated-Integrated-development-Clifford-Street-Suffolk-Park.
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