Peel St, Tuncurry apartment block approved by MidCoast Council

‘What bothers me is the height’, one councillor said when deciding the fate of a six-storey apartment block in a popular beachside town on the Mid-North Coast.

The Tuncurry apartment block approved by MidCoast Council on May 10.

Despite lingering concerns about traffic impacts, and the height of the proposal, a six-storey apartment block has been approved in Tuncurry on the Mid-North Coast.

The decision to support the plans was made unanimously by MidCoast councillors at their general meeting on May 10 despite some, including Paul Sandilands, expressing concerns.

“What bothers me, and what bothers lots of the people I talk to, is the height,” Mr Sandilands said.

But as he pointed out, state government regulations allow developers to deviate from these limitations and this happens regularly.

Deputy mayor Alan Tickle said it wasn’t a “significant deviation” and he felt it was in the public interest to approve the development.

The Forster-Tuncurry bridge looking across from the Tuncurry side.

Two sections of the roof (to house the western and eastern lifts) exceed the 19.8m height limit for that area, reaching to just over 20m.

The site, on the corner of Peel and Taree Streets, takes in three lots and there are currently three separate single-storey older style homes there, which will be demolished.

There will be 30 apartments over a basement carpark for 40 vehicles with a further 10 spaces adjacent to Peel Lane for visitors.

Councillor Troy Fowler said the added accommodation options would help address the region’s housing and rental crisis, and he hoped it would be built “ASAP and hopefully there will be more to follow”.

There will be a mix of options including 18 two-bedroom; 10 three-bedroom; and two four-bedroom apartments.

Garden terraces will feature throughout the development and there are plans for extensive tree planting along the western and southern boundaries to soften the impact and some of the existing heritage listed Canary Island date palms will remain.

One of the older style homes which will be removed but the heritage listed Canary Island date palm at the front will remain.

Number 1 Peel Street will also make way for the new apartment block at Tuncurry.

The site it located a short walk to Wallis Lake and there are several high rise developments nearby and on the western side is a vacant block where the old TAFE building once stood.

An objection on behalf of the owner’s corporation of the nearby Mirage units at 6-10 Manning St spoke of the traffic impacts and while statistics might show the area can handle the influx, the “realities of daily living are very different”.

Traffic from the development will feed into the notorious wishbone traffic system – a “game of Russian roulette at best of times” according to the letter of objection – to gain access to the bridge connecting Tuncurry and Forster which can grind to a standstill in peak holiday periods.

The letter referenced a fatal accident and countless near misses adding that with the extra traffic “it is only a matter of time until another fatal accident will occur”.

The owner of a nearby heritage listed home, which operates as the Tokelau guesthouse, expressed concerns about the foundation of the building given the extensive excavations required for the new basement carpark.