There was only one item on the agenda when the Local Planning Panel met on June 9.
The owner of a home at 1 Yumbool Close, Forresters Beach, wanted permission to knock down the home and replace it with two homes, one a secondary dwelling within the ground floor of the main home.
Associated works included a new pool, a lift and a fire place.
It said the extra height requested was inconsistent with the objectives of the Building Height development standard and inconsistent with the objectives of the R2 Low Density zone.
The panel specifically disagreed with arguments that the height limit has been abandoned for the area.
“There is no evidence before the panel to support this conclusion,” the minutes state.
“Some examples in the wider (area) appear to be older dwellings and approvals of variations for sites need to be assessed on their own merits.”
The panel disagreed with the proposition that the proposal was a “better planning outcome” than a building complying with the height standard, as such a compliant proposal would necessarily have a larger footprint.
“To the contrary, there are areas of excessive parking, undercrofts (over two levels) and inefficient planning/design (including for access) that could readily be utilised for the quantum of habitable floorspace currently contained in the upper (non-complying) level, within the same or similar overall footprint as proposed,” the panel said.
The proposal went to the panel with a council recommendation to approve it.
One person spoke against the recommendation and three people were available to answer questions from the panel, some of whom had visited the site.
The decision, which included 12 reasons for refusal, was unanimous. The full details were on the council website on June 10, one day after the meeting. You can find the minutes under agendas and meetings under the Council tab.
