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July 10, 2015
Your independent community newspaper - Ph: 4325 7369
Issue 73
Ourimbah boarding house proposal to proceed to JRPP without proper debate proposed 100-room boarding house at Ourimbah could not be discussed by Wyong Council at its general meeting on Wednesday, July 8 because seven out of eight councillors present declared interests in the matter.
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The approval or refusal of the proposed boarding house at 2-4 Glen Rd Ourimbah will now be determined by the Joint Regional Planning Panel at its meeting next week. Cr Eaton, Taylor, Best, Webster, Vincent, Troy and Matthews all declared interests in the matter, which left independent Cr Bob Graham, the only councillor present, able to discuss it. Cr Greenwald and Nayna were absent but had previously declared interests in the matter. The absence of a quorum to discuss the matter meant the decision to make submissions to next week’s Joint Regional Planning Panel (JRPP) meeting was deferred to Council’s acting general manager, Mr Scott Cox. Chairperson of the Stop Glen Road Action Group, Mr Greg McGill was also unable to speak at the meeting because the matter could not be debated. According to a report from Wyong Council’s development and building department manager, acting director, Ms Tanya O’Brien, the
An artist's impression of the proposed Glen Rd boarding house as it will be presented to the JRPP
application was reviewed by the Hunter Joint Regional Planning Panel (JRPP) last year which deferred its determination pending the provision of additional information and design change. The original DA was for the demolition of two existing dwellings and the erection of a fourstory boarding house containing 94 rooms, a manager’s residence, parking and open space. The revised application is for a three-storey boarding house with 100 rooms, a manager’s residence, parking and open space. “Following a thorough planning assessment, the application is recommended for approval,” the report said. In the latest version of the proposal, the building width has increased at the street frontage, and internal changes include communal recreation rooms on each level, light
wells and storage. The proposed building will house 87 single units, 10 doubles, three accessible units and the manager’s unit. Each unit would contain an en-suite, kitchenette, robe and desk. The landscaping plan has been revised with extensive landscaping proposed within the front setback and in communal areas, according to the latest report to Council. Unless Mr Cox decides to make alternative submissions to the JRPP, it is expected that the report submitted to the Wednesday, July 8 meeting will be forwarded to the Hunter Central Coast JRPP for determination on Friday, July 16. In other words, the outcome from Wyong Council to the JRPP will be a report supporting the approval of the proposed development.
Mr Greg McGill from the Stop Glen Road Action Group said residents present in the public gallery for the Council meeting were “very, very disappointed” that the issue was not debated. Mr McGill said he was surprised that several councillors declared conflicts of interest based on connections with former federal member for Dobell, Mr Craig Thompson. Mr McGill said he believed Mr Thompson, along with former Wyong councillor and mayor Mr Neil Rose, had been employed by the developers K and P Gregory, to chair focus groups and lobby current ALP councillors to support the proposed development. “We believe the councillors used their declared conflicts at the meeting to get out of declaring whether
or not they supported the development,” Mr McGill said. He said the outcomes of the focus groups chaired by Mr Thompson had been used as part of the developer’s social impact statement in its development proposal to incorrectly demonstrate community support for the development. The Stop Glen Road Action Group is also seeking advice as to whether Mr Cox is an appropriate person to make submissions to the JRPP given that he was the author of the first report to Council recommending the original development application. According to Mr McGill, the group will be “up the creek without a paddle” if the JRPP approves the current version of the development application. “Our only avenue would be the Land and Environment Court and
we have been told that we would need a minimum of $50,000 to take it there and we have nothing of that kind at the moment,” he said. Member for Dobell, Ms Karen McNamara attended the Council meeting as a show of support for the Ourimbah residents. Member for The Entrance, Mr David Mehan has also expressed support for the Ourimbah residents and is expected to speak at the JRPP in opposition to the boarding house development. Mr McGill said the Stop Glen Road Action Group did not believe that the developer had met the six conditions set out by the JRPP in relation to its concerns about the bulk and scale of the development. “One floor has come off the top but there is an additional wing to be built and they have reduced the size of the rooms to just above the state minimum requirements,” Mr McGill said. In the speech he did not get to present to the meeting, Mr McGill said the group would be detailing the issues that it believed the developer had failed to address to the JRPP meeting.
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Meeting transcript, 8 July 2015 Business paper, 8 July 2015 Wyong Council ordinary meeting Interview, 9 July 2015 Mr Greg McGill, Save Glen Road Action Group Jackie Pearson, journalist