Mayor defends council planning record in Palm Beach after another tower approved

Mayor Tom Tate and planning committee chairman Cameron Caldwell have strongly backed council’s record on approving high rise buildings at Palm Beach after councillors ticked off on another tower.

The site for the new nine level tower at Palm Beach.

MAYOR Tom Tate and planning committee chairman Cameron Caldwell have strongly backed council’s record on approving high rise buildings at Palm Beach after an overwhelming majority of councillors ticked off on another tower.

Only hinterland-based councillor Peter Young opposed an officer’s recommendation at full council today to approve a code assessable application for a nine storey unit development on The Esplanade.

The nine-storey tower planned for The Esplanade at Palm Beach.

COUNCILLOR’S FURY OVER EMAIL FROM MAYOR

Cr Young said another tower at Palm Beach would create a “monoculture” and add to a “wall” of buildings only a few metres apart.

Area councillor Daphne McDonald, who outlined her concerns about density at a planning committee meeting, was not at full council today.

Councillor Tate sought advice from officers about height changes in Palm Beach since the Albert Shire and Gold Coast City amalgamated councils in 1994.

“There’s been no change in height limit in Palm Beach. It’s been the same since the amalgamation of this council,” Cr Tate said.

The Mayor said it was developers rather than council who had decided to build and lead the development wave in Palm Beach.

“The progress of these properties — the owner of the properties just felt that the market was the right time for it to start developing,” he said.

Sites where there are plans to build towers at Palm Beach.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE BULLETIN FOR $1 A WEEK FOR THE FIRST 8 WEEKS. (MIN. COST $4)

“Let the market dictate, it wasn’t this council, it wasn’t any changes that we want to intensify Palm Beach, that’s not the case.”

Officers said a compliant density on the site would be three to seven stories but the planning scheme would need to be changed so that density was a trigger.

Officers as part of the City Plan process were working on heights and density and the current amendments cover that work and would be phased in during the next couple of years.

Councillor Caldwell said the applicant with the design of the buildings had handled the impact of density “quite well” with an oversupply of carparking. It was below the height level.

“So really the problem presented by way of a density issue is really only numbers on a page,” he said.

Cr Caldwell acknowledged Palm Beach development was a “hot topic” because of the number of projects and people wanting to move there.

“And it’s interesting I was just looking at some of Cr McDonald’s letter heads, which proudly displays the Palm Beach skyline,” he said.

Cr Daphne McDonald hands out information and speaks to locals at a meeting on the City Plan. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

MORE NEWS

Playboy model had cocktail of drugs in Range Rover

New live music venue for Coast

$100m offer: ‘Press the go button’

“Of course the thing about the Palm Beach skyline is it has evolved over many, many years including the first two most dominant buildings being Princess Palm and Royal Palm which are at the southern end of the Palm Beach strip. And they are way, way higher and uglier than many of the designs we are seeing come through at the moment.

“And then we see a lower generation of buildings that are around that seven stories that came through probably in the late 90s and 2000s, and we are seeing another burst of that same kind of scale of building now. And so we are not seeing massive high rises. All bar one of the applications that has been approved in the last few years at Palm Beach, all being code assessable.”

Cr Caldwell said the community wanted a low rise feel and that was being achieved.