Im all steamed up about whats happening with the site of the old Headlands Hotel at Austinmer (I live right next to it), and Ive written an article intended for the Illawarra News blogspot. Its appended below but its a bit long, so only read it if youre interested. (Heading) Plans are hatching for the site of the old Headlands Hotel on Brickyard Point, Austinmer After nine years an old development plan for Headys Hotel is being revived. First, a brief history of the site from about 1980 - Over the last 3 decades a succession of schemes to build a replacement of the Headlands Hotel have been proposed by a succession of owners, all of them objected to by the local community on the grounds of excessive size. The community has time after time expressed its wish for a modern replacement of whats there, a moderately sized tavern with bars and a restaurant, with some rooms for occupation by tourists and plenty of space outside for picnicking and enjoying the glorious setting. Up till 2004 every re-development proposal fell by the wayside, either through rejection by our Council or sometimes the Land and Environment Court, or through bankruptcy of the owner at the time or through inability to raise finance for construction. In 2002 a DA (development application) was put to Council by yet another owner for another large construction on the site which included a hotel, restaurant, community room, 32 serviced apartments and 24 residential dwellings. After strong community objections to the plan, particularly aimed at the residential dwellings and the size and bulk of the buildings, Council rejected the DA as inappropriate for the site. The owner appealed this decision in the Land and Environment Court and early in the Court proceedings the residential dwellings were deemed to be not permissible as the site was zoned for tourism purposes. The Court hearing was suspended while the site owner and Council negotiated alterations to the DA, and the plan was revised by the owner to remove the residential dwellings, but the number of serviced apartments was increased to 69 in a building which also contained bars and restaurants and a large underground car park. As Council still did not approve the new plan the issue returned to the Land and Environment Court and after further lengthy and expensive proceedings, in June 2003 the Court upheld Councils decision. An extract from the presiding judge, Justice Pearlmans judgment says - I have concluded, for the reasons which I have set out, that the height, bulk and scale and footprint of the proposed building will have an adverse visual impact on the sensitive coastal headland and that it will have an adverse impact on the aesthetic significance of the heritage item, the Norfolk Island pines. In these circumstances the appeal must be dismissed. (Land and Environment Court of NSW ref 10396 of 2002) In 2004 the site owner re-submitted the application with modifications. The 69 serviced apartments, hotel, function room, bars and restaurants remained, including two underground car parks but were now contained in three separate buildings of 2, 3 and 4 storeys. DA 2004/1186, as it was designated, was advertised for community comment and not surprisingly received strong opposition, again focussed on height, bulk and building footprint. In September 2004 the owner again commenced proceedings in the Land and Environment Court claiming that Council was refusing its application and a series of Court ordered conferences were held to identify and resolve Councils concerns which were mainly over the bulk and scale of the proposed buildings. Eventually though, Council, perhaps worn down by the expense of the court action and lengthy involvement of its planning department staff accepted the recommendation of the Planning Manager to approve the modified DA, but with important conditions, including that occupation of the apartments should be for tourists only and that no-one could stay in an apartment for longer than 3 months in any one year. Councils Planning Manager, in a briefing paper for the Environment and Planning Committee dated Dec 6 2004 stated that Council had two options - to approve the DA or refuse it and face continued court proceedings. DA2004/1186 with the apartment occupancy conditions applied was approved in December 2004. No construction work has been done to this day however, and the old Headlands Hotel still stands, now derelict, on Brickyard Point. A few years after 2004 the site was again sold. It is of note, when recounting this history that in 2005 a part of the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act which deals with protection of the coastal amenities of the State (SEPP 71) was altered to apply to the Wollongong area. In 2004 SEPP 71 did not apply in Austinmer as it was considered part of a major urban region. Without doubt, if SEPP 71 had applied in Wollongong in 2004 the Council would have had much stronger grounds to refuse DA2004/1186 and demand a more moderate plan for the site. Included in the stated aims of SEPP 71 is one to ensure that the type, bulk, scale and size of development is appropriate for the location and protects and improves the natural scenic quality of the surrounding area. Forward now to the very recent past and the present - In October 2013 Council adopted a local plan outlining height permits for developments on Brickyard Point ranging from 3 metres to 15 metres depending on building locations on the headland. Also, in late 2013 The Stevens Group, a mid North Coast property developer became interested in re-activating DA 2004/1186 with a view to purchase the site and proceed with the build, but after 9 years of inactivity the DA approval would normally have lapsed. However, the agent acting for the Stevens Group has obtained a letter dated November 2007 from Wollongong Council to a firm of architects concerning DA2004/1186 stating that the consent had been commenced for the purposes of Section 95(4). The meaning of this letter is that Council accepts that work on construction of the project had commenced before November 2007, that is, within 5 years of the DA approval, and that therefore it could continue being constructed today. This articles writer understands that the basis for the commencement is that at some point a number of exploratory geotechnical bores were done on the site. No other construction work of any kind was done within 5 years of the DAs approval, but it appears that Councils position is that construction can commence, notwithstanding that todays planning regulations have evolved to be more environmentally conservative than they were nine years ago. The Stevens Group has stated that it is their intention to strata title the apartments and sell off the plan to raise finance for the project. They appear to find the occupancy restrictions that apply, limiting their use to short term tourist stays, reduce the marketability of the apartments and have asked Council to accept a modification to remove entirely these restrictions on the largest of the apartment blocks, a four storey building containing 39 apartments to be built facing Yuruga Street and overlooking the rest of Austinmers one and two storey houses. If Council accepts this removal of conditions imposed nine years ago it will allow permanent, strata titled residency in a large apartment block on one of Wollongongs most iconic and scenic headlands, and set a precedent that will make Gold Coast style development of all of the Illawarra coastline harder to resist in future. The formal request to Council to accept this relaxation of the rules is called RD2004/1186/A and is currently on exhibition. Comments or objections to this application are being accepted by Council until February 10th and its not too late to add your input by email or letter. The item can be found in Councils web site; just follow the links - Planning and Development - View an Application, and you can email a submission from the site.
Posted on: Sun, 02 Feb 2014 00:17:32 +0000
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