Palm Beach residents fund campaign to join council to fight super tower
The City’s biggest legal battle on development is about to begin. Residents have raised thousands of dollars to get lawyers and planning witnesses. It’s about the Palm Beach skyline.
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The Palm Beach skyline is about to become the City’s biggest legal development battlefront.
On Friday at the Planning and Environment Court in Southport, developers S & S Projects will begin their appeal against Gold Coast City Council refusing their highrise tower on The Collective restaurant site.
Almost 2000 residents have objected to it and some in the southern suburb have raised thousands of dollars to get lawyers and planning witnesses in place for the fight.
About 15 locals are out of pocket for campaign costs, travelling up to Brisbane courts in the past two years, joining council in legal action.
The site is a prime commercial spot on the Gold Coast Highway. When originally lodged, the development was a height of 25 storeys and 82.8 metres
City officers sought a comprehensive redesign, a lower building height and increased setbacks along with an improved appearance of the building and reduced podium scale.
Developers reduced the building height by two storeys to 23 storeys. Officers regarded the setbacks, appearance and podium as largely unchanged.
They wanted a significant redesign. Developers then lodged a minor change to the application seeking to further reduce the building height by three storeys to 20 storeys.
In August last year, the application was refused. The 1863 objectors were concerned about height, density, traffic and parking. Only 102 were in support.
Developers will now argue their project will offer an integrated, mixed use centre comprising shopping, residential accommodation, dining and entertainment for residents and tourists.
They say the accommodation tower “makes the best use of infrastructure and enhances accessibility to goods, services, facilities and employment opportunities”. It offers higher intensity housing in a mixed use building format.
How will council respond as this is played out in the court?
Council believes the development will not adequately activate the street frontages, it exceeds height for Palm Beach and does “not contribute to an ordered local skyline”.
Palm Beach Elanora Community Group president Lancia Jordana recalls the original application at a height of 82.8m was more than double allowed in the City Plan for 39m.
With the battle moving to Southport they have greater hope.
“It is important that court cases with a high level of public interest like the Collective Tower
are transparent for the community to see and that concerned local residents as well as the
media can attend court to follow the case,” Ms Jordana says.
“Palm Beach Elanora residents are not anti-development. We want to see sensible
development that enhances rather than trashes the look and liveability of our area. Instead, we see poor quality development, not just in our area, but across the city.
“The City Plan already provides the direction for attractive mid-rise buildings with appropriate setbacks, trees and landscaping that showcase the subtropical setting and natural features which draw so many people to the Gold Coast. This will enhance the beauty of our city and attract tourists.”
The Palm Beach Elanora Community Group was formed in 2021, its growth taking off as fast as the south’s building boom.
In her court affidavit, Ms Jordana talks about letterbox drops, information stands at schools, Saturday markets and shopping centres along with a community information evening.
Legal planning disputes focus on the technical, but this protest is as grassroots as you can get.
The final decision is a line in the sand moment for development of Palm Beach.
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