Palm Beach’s tower fight will not stopping light rail but fixing City Plan
Palm Beach residents who used light rail as an argument to stop a 13-level tower from being approved have lost their battle. SEE WHY
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A 13-level tower is to be approved in Palm Beach. Residents used the light rail as their argument to stop it. They’re saying “why build high when the trams are unlikely to arrive”.
They will continue to lose these battles because their argument is fundamentally flawed.
Twenty people have lodged submissions opposed to the development on an ageing unit block on a 817sqm Gold Coast Highway site which also fronts Jefferson Lane.
The applicant is the body corporate of unit block owners who have approval for a nine-level tower. They are using the 50 per cent “uplift” test in the current 2016 City Plan to go higher.
Anti-light rail campaigner Karen Rowles in her submission said it failed to meet the “uplift” criteria – no other towers were as high and it would not provide “no sense of place”.
“The light rail has no funding and has not been approved, therefore you cannot approve this application based on the light rail overlay map,” Ms Rowles wrote.
Officers in their report, for the first time, addressed this argument.
The possibility of light rail was not a consideration in benchmarks when assessing the development, they wrote.
Stage 3 of the rail is being built from Broadbeach to Burleigh and the business case study for Stage 4 to the airport at Coolangatta will not be completed until next mid-next year.
“As such, light rail has not been used to support for refuse the proposed development,” officers wrote.
A majority of councillors at Tuesday’s first planning committee meeting backed the officer recommendation to approve the tower.
City Planning chair Mark Hammel told your columnist the debate made clear the assessments.
“Light rail is not a consideration. It doesn’t form part of the City Plan yet, it doesn’t form part of officer assessment, it was not considered in giving approval for this development to proceed,” he said.
What emerged in the debate, from questioning by new Palm Beach councillor Josh Martin, was feedback that the community wanted the “uplift” test either changed or removed.
The only way forward now is not to argue light rail, but in the future round of City Plan consultation for the community to get its message right on the “uplift” test.
Officers estimate more than 40 development approvals have been given for medium and high rise buildings in this coastal section of Palm Beach under the existing City Plan.
Six in the past 12 months have been given full approval, three or four refused.
Only councillors Dan Doran and Peter Young supported Cr Martin. If there is majority support at full council later this month to stop this project, it will almost certainly end in an appeal.
Cr Hammel told your columnist: “I’m very cognisant of the fact I don’t want to see millions of ratepayers dollars spent in the appeal court trying fight against an uplift test which should have been approved.”
Light rail is a tram in the distance. Developers with the existing City Plan and clever about tower designs are on Palm Beach’s doorstep. Residents need to rethink their protest.
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