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THE TWEED www.tweedecho.com.au Volume 4 #13 Thursday, November 24, 2011 Advertising and news enquiries: Phone: (02) 6672 2280 editor@tweedecho.com.au adcopy@tweedecho.com.au 21,000 copies every week CAB AUDIT
TWEED’S BEST IDE ENTERTAINMENT GU PAGES 14 - 18 LOCAL & INDEPENDENT
Bid to stop rule-breaking mansion fails Council defies Hastings Point DCP Steve Spencer
A last-ditch stand to stop a controversial beachfront mansion at Hastings Point failed during an extraordinary meeting of Tweed councillors on Tuesday, sparking a community outcry. Several councillors hoped to persuade Cr Dot Holdom to change her mind for the rescission motion and vote against the project, which involves a block of flats being gutted and redeveloped into a three-storey mega-home. Cr Holdom, who originally voted two years ago to support the Hastings Point village plan restricting heights of buildings to two storeys, was seen as the linch pin in the move, but joined the pro-development bloc on the crucial vote instead, giving no reasons. Members of that faction (Crs Warren Polglase, Kevin Skinner and Phil Youngblutt) also failed to speak up and explain their reasons this week for pushing through what many see as
‘This is not the end of it’ The tight-knit Hastings Point community has not given up its crusade against the ‘McMansion’ approval, with local lawyer John O’Reilly warning ‘this is not over’. ‘This is a kick in the guts for the community. A complete breakdown of trust between the people of Hastings Point and the council,’ said Mr O’Reilly, one of the leaders of the campaign to create a development control plan (DCP) which retains the suburb’s village atmosphere. ‘This is not a renovation, it is a completely different building. ‘We are considering a range of alternatives to make sure the truth about this is brought to light. This is not over, we will go higher.’ Mr O’Reilly said the suggestion it was a ‘merit assessment’ was a ‘complete cop-out’. ‘The building services unit should never have been appointed to deal with this case. Such an important application with these ramifications should have been dealt with by a qualified town planner.’
an overdevelopment which breaches too many rules. Locals now fear the approval will lead to an avalanche of similar bids to build big homes along the foreshore, forever changing Hasting Point’s village atmosphere. The rescission motion, moved by Crs Joan van Lieshout and Katie Milne and supported by mayor Barry Longland, was the council’s last chance to reverse the decision. Over a year ago, all three councillors pushed through a new Hastings Point development control plan (DCP), designed to stop so-called ‘McMansions’ being built along the foreshore, with the support of Cr Holdom, but this week and last week, she voted with the pro-development bloc. At stake is the future look of Hastings Point. Many of the old homes that line the beachfront may soon be rebuilt in the same mega-style. Mayor Barry Longland urged his colleagues to ignore the threat of legal action. He predicted council would win a Land and Environment Court case if the owners took legal action, as the project breached height, length and setback regulations. Cr Longland said that by allowing the reduced setback from the beach ‘we are effectively providing these people with a bit of Crown land in their front garden’. ‘If anyone is worried about being rolled in the Land and Environment Court, I’d say we have a pretty good case,’ he said. Cr van Lieshout warned that the community expected more from Tweed Council. ‘This council will be remembered for setting the [DCP] rules and this council will be remembered for abandoning them,’ she said. ‘I won’t be persuaded by threat of legal action to abandon those rules,’ she said. Planners based much of their decision to approve the project on what opponents called a ‘rogue’ house next door, which is even bigger and higher, and almost as close to the foreshore. Its approval was granted decades ago in what locals say were ‘questionable’ circumstances, when many inappropriate developments were
pushed through Tweed Council. It’s believed the home’s first floor is referred to on planning documents as a ‘boat shed’. Ironically, it was that home which helped spark the community’s decade-long campaign for a DCP to ban similar structures from the village. While Cr Skinner didn’t speak during the debate, he told ABC Radio yesterday that the Hasting Point DCP was ‘just a guide’. ‘I never supported the Hastings Point DCP and I still don’t support it,’ said Cr Skinner.
‘They have existing use rights. It’s not a demolition, it is a redevelopment of an existing building,’ he said. Cr Skinner said property owners had originally been allowed to build three-storey homes along the beachfront. ‘I don’t think there would have been many property owners who would have liked to have seen their existing rights taken away. You will probably see more applications for similar types of things.’ ■ See Editorial, page 6
Unlimited local art, craft for sale
Tweed Unlimited Arts (TUA) member Chris Knight puts the finishing touches to her magpie prior to firing. The potter’s work will be among many items handcrafted by local artisans using Australian materials which will be on display and sale at the TUA’s special ‘All Australian’ Christmas sale on the weekend of December 3–4 between 9.30am and 3.30pm DST at the TUA workshop in Pioneer Parade, Banora Point. Entry is free. Photo Jeff ‘Oven Baked’ Dawson
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