Down the southern end of Jonson Street, Byron Bay, right next to St Paul’s Anglican Church, is a block of land with a colourful story that says much about the changing face of Byron Shire.
Back in the early 20th century, the land at 119-121 Jonson Street was gifted by the family of landowner George Flick to the neighbouring church, so that parishioners had somewhere for their horses to rest while they attended Sunday services.
In the mid-’70s, with kombis the most popular form of transport in the Shire, and the population growing, the land became home to a busy pre-school that coaxed thousands of local kids through childhood.
In 2004, with a sea-change property boom in full swing, the pre-school became a toy library, where kids would sometimes spend hours choosing the perfect plaything.
By 2015, those kids had grown up, were earning a living, and had started thinking about settling down. The land followed them down the path, becoming a restaurant and function centre.
Secret Garden location
In the last few years the land has pivoted again, becoming a live music and events venue known as The Secret Garden. It was sold by the Anglican Diocese in late 2021, with most of the proceeds being spent on the local parish.
Now, as Byron Bay morphs into an uncomfortable fusion of tie-dye and Bondi, there are plans to turn the site into the type of mixed-use commercial and residential development that is becoming ubiquitous in the Bay.
Proposed by the JD Property Group of the Jonson Lane development, (located opposite Byron Music), the DA proposes ground floor commercial premises with a public courtyard, topped with 21 apartments, ranging from two to four bedrooms, each.
There will be a basement car park for 84 vehicles and a private rooftop pool and deck area.
‘The project strives to create anew diverse social hub to encourage locals and visitors to come together… it seeks to align with the aspirations of the Byron Bay Town Centre Masterplan to connect the centre of Byron Bay with the spirit of its community,’ consultants hired to undertake much of the planning for the site say in the Statement of Environmental Effects.
Height exceedance 46 per cent
The developer argues that the height and floor space ratio rules that apply to the site are ‘unreasonable and unnecessary’. They are proposing a height exceedance of 11 per cent across most of the built area, peaking with a 46 per cent exceedance at the highest point which would mean the building will hit 13.1m.
The planners further assert that ‘no public benefit’ will result from adhering to the floor-space ratio rules for the site.
While the maximum floor-space ratio for that part of town is 1.3:1, the proposed ratio for the site is 1.42:1, an exceedance of just under 10 per cent. The planner argues that their proposal provides a better planning outcome than a compliant development would provide.
They say the proposed bulk and scale do not create an adverse visual impact, and there is an appropriate visual relationship with nearby developments. They further assert that there are no adverse shadow, view, visual, acoustic or privacy impacts created by the floor-space ratio breach.
The development, which retains the name of The Secret Garden, is currently on public exhibition and will be viewable on Council’s website until February 5.
One wonders what the earliest custodians of this piece of the Shire would offer by way of comment if they had the chance to do so.
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