Development applications before Coffs Harbour City Council

A frogariam and koala fence are in the mix; along with a subdivision and amended plans for a new fast food outlet. See what developments are planned in your neighbourhood.

From a frogarium to a $25.4m retail and apartment complex – and all things in between – see what plans are in the pipeline for your neighbourhood.

Concepts are outlined in development applications currently before Coffs Harbour City Council.

They include plans for the redevelopment of the The Promenade on Coffs Creek which had to be readvertised for another 28-day period due to an administrative error.

Here is a list of some of the plans before council:

Toormina McDonald’s back on the drawing board

A proposal for a 24-hour McDonald’s in Toormina was rejected by Council in April last year.

A report before Councillors had recommended it be approved with the condition hours be reduced to 6am to 11pm seven days a week but this was not enough to get it across the line.

Some of the concerns related to the choice of location, which is notorious for anti-social behaviour and the concern that a McDonald’s would make the situation much worse, and the impact on traffic in the busy location.

The fast-food proposal has been in the pipeline for years and a $1.5m reconfiguration of the Toormina Gardens Shopping Centre carpark approved to accommodate the outlet.

In September last year McDonald’s Australia Limited lodged an appeal against Council’s refusal in the Land and Environment Court. This appeal will be heard in the Land and Environment Court on June 29 this year.

In May this year the Land and Environment Court granted the applicant permission to rely on amended plans and these are currently on public exhibition until May 31.

Amendments for the $3.5m fast food outlet include a new facade and operating hours from 5am to Midnight. For more details on the latest plans search for development application number 0810/20DA in Council’s DA Tracker.

Koala fence

Coffs Harbour City Council has their own plans to construct a koala exclusion fence within the Hogbin Drive Road Reserve.

The plans were lodged on May 18 with work estimated to cost $350,000.

The fence is designed to encourage koalas to use an existing underpass near Newports Creek.

A young male koala. Picture: Debbie Smith

Council has a comprehensive Koala Plan of Management and one of its aims is to reduce threats to koalas from roadkill at various ‘black spots’.

Hogbin Drive has been identified as a major black spot and the focus of previous works in 2006 to install fencing to encourage koalas to use the underpass under the concrete bridge over Newports Creek. While this helped, the road continues to be a black spot for fatalities.

For more details on the latest plans search for development application number 0980/22DA.

Long-awaited plans for Coffs Creek site

Plans for the $25.4 million redevelopment of the The Promenade on Coffs Creek have been readvertised due to an administrative error.

They are on exhibition for another 28-day period which wraps up on June 3.

The site has been described as the gateway to the Jetty precinct from the western end.

It was once home to the Coffs Butter Factory – and to the north was the former Coffs Creek baths.

Plans involve the demolition of existing dated buildings and the construction of a three-storey tower which will include commercial premises (office, retail and cafe) on the ground level and 39 residential apartments on the upper levels. There will be underground parking and aquatic leisure facilities.

The current Promenade site is now more than 20 years old, having been constructed in the mid 1990s.

The proposal includes public access and art along Coffs Creek and within the adjacent Council-owned parklands.

It sits between two reserves on a bend in the creek and occupies the corner of Mildura Street and Harbour Drive.

The shop-top apartments will be a mix of two and three bedroom options and three penthouses.

The Promenade on Coffs Creek is set for a major upgrade. Picture: Janine Watson.

Plans by Walknorth Architects show a large veranda on the creek side and open space containing an elevated garden terrace for the public with a stepped amphitheatre and integrated garden beds connecting to the creek front walkway.

The development has been designed to sit within the tree canopy height of Coffs Creek Reserve, although it exceeds the current height limit for the site of 15.5 metres.

For more details search for development application number 0835/21DA in Council’s DA Tracker.

Like a frog zoo

A frogarium educational facility is proposed at 3 Herdegen Close Bonville.

Plans are on exhibition until Friday (May 27).

The site is within the Bonville Large Lot Residential area and adjoins Pine Creek Way, the old highway, where there are a number of tourist destinations, including the Butterfly House, Paintball and the Bonville International Golf Club. Further to the south is the Raleigh winery.

Papers submitted as part of the application state the primary function of the $497,000 facility is to educate two distinct groups of people:

-The general public – to increase awareness of the importance of native frogs to ecosystems and to identify a native frog from introduced pest species (cane toads).

– Students (School and University) Scientists and Ecologists.

The building footprint will be approximately 1,000 square metres including the indoor and outdoor frog enclosures.

It will include a reception building, including visitor information, accessible amenities and souvenirs; an education room; the frogarium enclosures (indoor and outdoor); and a kiosk/coffee shop.

Operating hours will be from 10am to 3pm every day during school terms and 9 am to 4pm every day during school holidays.

An off street car park is proposed to be constructed in the first stage of the development with 10 sealed and marked carparking spaces and provision for overflow parking or future car park expansion.

For more information on the development look for application number 0915/22DA.

More development on the cards

In an area earmarked for greater residential development an application for a four-lot subdivision has been lodged.

The estimated cost of work is $ 250,000 and will include roadwork.

The subdivision is planned for 43 Irvines Road, Bonville.

For more information on the development look for application number 0933/22DA.