Kempsey Shire Council carried a recommendation at today's council meeting that will see the re-designed 15 unit residential block at Crescent Head move forward.
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The site of the proposed three-storey unit block is on the corner of Baker Drive and Killuke Crescent.
Council deferred a decision on the recommendation at the February council meeting until a site inspection was carried out.
The site inspection was held on March 6. Councillors were provided with 3D modelling in the form of still image overlays. These were viewed from various angles in order to gain an appreciation for how the proposal will sit in the context of the area.
In response to requests to conduct the inspection at school pick-up time, the inspection was held in the afternoon at the end of school hours.
The original proposal received submissions of concern from residents and council officers have sought to address those concerns which resulted in a thorough redraft of the building design.
Madeleine Holtmann lives across the road to the site and addressed councillors at the meeting today.
"So many people in the community are against the proposal. There is an overbearing nature to the development," she said.
"The building is too high and too dense for the location."
Architect from Buck and Simple Kurt Crisp also addressed councillors and said the new design offers more privacy to neighbouring properties.
"There is space for trees to be planted in the re-designed unit block that will shield surrounding properties," he said.
"If this DA is knocked back, the developers can resort back to the original proposed design which doesn't provide as much privacy."
Mr Crisp also said the new design provides more safety during school times as the driveway to the car park is situated on Killuke Crescent, instead of the busier Baker Drive, and also has more line of sight compared to the original design.
Council staff and Mr Crisp also assured councillors that the unit block is intended for permanent residential living instead of holiday letting.
"The client believes they will get more sales from permanent residents," Mr Crisp said.
A spokesperson for the developer said they worked closely with council to take into account residents concerns.
"We were paying attention to the concerns of residents and we stopped the original DA to fully re-design the unit block. We listened to council and came back with a whole new application," they said.
Councillor Leo Hauville spoke against the recommendation and said councillors should listen to concerned community members.
"There are all of these submissions against it," he said.
"This will allow any other developments to come forward with the same height and build in the area."
Councillor Mark Baxter spoke for the recommendation and said the new design takes the public's concern into consideration where possible.
"The time for saying we want a third option for the unit block is over. The first DA is inferior and if we don't move forward with the proposed re-design then it will resort back to the inferior original design," he said.
"We do need more people living in Crescent Head. This will provide the opportunity for more permanent residents."
Councillors carried the recommendation that will see the newly-designed 15 residential unit block built.
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