After receiving written submissions from 16 people and listening to objections from four of them in person this morning, the Northern Regional Planning Panel voted to approve the $8.9 million Retail & Shop Top Housing Development at 84 Hyde Street Bellingen.
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The construction will follow the demolition of the building currently hosting Amelia Franklin's cafe and M & K Automotive and the remediation of the site, which was formerly Carl Foster's garage.
One of the four storeys will be an underground car park, at ground level there will be retail space and above will be 15 two-storey residential units which will have one level facing Hyde St and the second level visible from the Halpin's Lane side.
The meeting in Bellingen's Council Chambers was attended by about 35 members of the public, many of whom were not pleased by the outcome.
Joe Walker was the first to speak and presented a swathe of points encompassing Bellingen's lack of a heritage committee and the DA's lack of a specific traffic management plan; the likely impact of the construction period on local traders; business closures purportedly caused by the town's beautification project and Waterfall Way traffic statistics and recent car accidents in Bellingen.
He was given 10 minutes as he was also speaking on behalf of others, but noted, "I think I could go for another hour" when his time ran out. "I'm sure you could," panel chair Garry West replied.
Catherine Jones and Ziggy Koenigseder had also registered to speak; both arrived from hospital in wheelchairs as they are recovering from hip operations.
Ms Koenigseder spoke first on behalf of Barbara Moore, who was unable to be present, commenting that generally she supported this style of infill development but was concerned about the architectural design, appearance and height.
On her own account, Ziggy described her situation as a neighbour of the development site and said she was worried about excessive noise during construction, contamination of air and ground during remediation and traffic disruption.
She said she is 72 years old, has degenerative Parkinson's Disease and is still learning to walk again after three hip operations following a fall last year.
After prolonged stays in hospital she is desperate to get back home but fears her unit above the Commonwealth Bank building will have no natural light or views if the development goes ahead.
"Stress over this DA has affected my mental health over last 12 months," she told the panel. "I'm really terrified of what this will do to my future so I hope you will take this into consideration."
Catherine Jones, who described herself as a "proud resident for over 33 years of this quaint town of Bellingen", argued the development went against the grain of the town's historical and cultural character.
Janine Harkness introduced herself as someone with 20 years experience as a heritage architect working for urban and rural councils.
She critiqued the overall bulk and scale of the proposed structure, saying it was the equivalent of two Hammond & Wheatley buildings. "Yet the built frontage to Hyde St is continuous with only minor articulation centrally for the commercial ground floor entry," she said.
She thought the verandah posts only served to break up the mass when viewed from directly opposite and the use of parapets and verandahs on the top storey did not mitigate the fact that it would be a three-storey building in a town comprised of one and two storey buildings.
"To have a 45-metre long, three-storey high building in this location will be a bulky eyesore," she said.
Simon Waterworth from GeoLink addressed the meeting on behalf of the owner, listed as Shaul Rubinstein Pty Ltd. Bellingen businessman Avi Shaul was present at the meeting but chose not to speak.
Mr Waterworth said he understood that this kind of development would generate comment, some positive some negative, particularly in Bellingen.
"This is a community that when it doesn't like something, it makes everyone aware of it."
He noted that controversial DAs had been known to receive as many as 1500 objections, whereas this one had 16, after two public submission periods.
"The interest expressed in online media has not resulted in a huge number of submissions," he said.
Mr Waterworth said the proposal had been through an extensive design process that included significant revisions in response to comments from council's heritage advisor.
He said it represented a logical opportunity for orderly infill development that would revitalise a run-down site and degraded pocket in the streetscape.
"It is our view that the design balances the development of a contemporary, functional and visually pleasing built form, while being sympathetic and complementary to the unique and valued heritage character of Hyde St and Bellingen."
Members of the panel then sought clarification from Bellingen Council's senior planner Daniel Bennett about the traffic management plan, site remediation, pedestrian access on Halpin's Lane, parking arrangements and potential noise problems.
Mr Bennett said a professionally-created traffic management plan for the construction period was a condition of consent and would take into account heavy vehicle movements and pedestrian safety.
In terms of site remediation, he said preliminary soil sampling by the applicant had not identified high levels of pollutants and he was confident any contamination issues that arose could be addressed.
Halpin's Lane will either have a dedicated footpath or be designated as a shared zone, he said. The development site will be linked via a footpath to the additional 36 car parking sites that will be constructed on Oak St.
Regarding concerns that noise from entertainment at the Federal Hotel opposite might provoke complaints from the new residents, he said the preliminary acoustic assessment "gave us sufficient assurance that the development will meet necessary noise thresholds".
Panel member Pamela Westing then spoke about the height of the development, one of the issues raised by objectors.
"The character of Bellingen is a big issue in assessing this application and certainly the height and bulk of this development will be different to what is there now," she said, before adding that the development would be an improvement on the status quo.
"Personally I think the way the heritage aspect has been addressed is quite sensitive," she said, prompting calls of "What a joke" from the gallery.
Mr West said the full height of the building would only be noticed from Halpin's Lane. "I don't believe people will see a building presenting as three storeys coming into town, " he said.
The panel voted to accept the height variation and Mr West continued despite interjections, at one point saying, "I understand the emotion of this issue and I understand you've been through a number of issues in this community and this is adding to it. But we have to look at this from a strict planning perspective."
"You've got used to the size of the building that is there now. I don't believe this is going to be out of character."
Regarding Ziggy's concern about her unit being overshadowed, Mr West said the diagrams showed this was not a significant issue.
"I believe the development as proposed, with conditions as proposed, can be approved," he said, forging on to put the motion, which was unanimously accepted by the panel.