Palm Beach residents launch new campaign against Changfa supertower proposal after blocking The Collective high-rise
Southern Gold Coast residents are launching a new campaign to block construction of another supertower, which they believe will add to traffic gridlock.
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Palm Beach residents are launching a new campaign to stop another tower project, opposing a planned 20-level high-rise which they predict will add to traffic gridlock.
The Palm Beach Elanora Community Group, which staged a successful protest to stop The Collective tower project is now focused on blocking the Changfa proposal.
Gold Coast City Council planners earlier this month rejected the development application for The Collective, despite it being reduced by three levels to 18 storeys. Mayor Tom Tate later acknowledged 10 storeys would be the limit for the suburb.
Changfa Pty Ltd proposed a 23-storey residential building on a 1643sq m site on the corner of Palm Beach Avenue and the Gold Coast Highway.
The company later reduced the tower to 20 levels. The application is being assessed by council planning officers.
Consultants in their application say the building will be a “significant landmark” being located on a primary thoroughfare providing access to the suburb from the Pacific Motorway.
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But Palm Beach Elanora Community Group convener Lancia Jordana in her submission to council wrote: “Giving approval to this development would also set a highly improper precedent.”
The group estimates about 600 objections to the project have been lodged through its online platform.
Key concerns are excessive building height and density, inadequate setbacks, traffic and parking impacts.
Residents believe it “detracts from Palm Beach identity and sense of place”.
The building height proposed was 70.1m against the 39m height shown on the City Plan building height overlay, Ms Jordana said.
The development proposed one bed per 6.7sq m against the one bed per 25sq m density shown on the City Plan residential density overlay.
“This proposed density does not recognise the potential for unit owners to use multipurpose rooms as additional bedrooms. This is double the highest density rating in the city,” Ms Jordana said.
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The traffic study submitted by the applicant highlighted existing vehicle capacity issues on Palm Beach Avenue, Ms Jordana added.
“I am concerned that the traffic reports submitted by the applicant do not consider the proposed Stage 4 of Light Rail, which is a stated priority for the council and the State Government. The traffic reports acknowledge a location already at capacity,” she said.
“The proposed Light Rail reduction of the Gold Coast Highway to two lanes from Palm Beach Avenue north and the creation of a boulevard along Palm Beach Avenue to Cypress Terrace are unacceptably overlooked in the submitted documents.
“The applicant describes this building as ‘an iconic landmark’. Palm Beach has iconic landmarks in the natural features of Burleigh Headland (Jellurgal), Burleigh Ridge, Currumbin Ridge, Tallebudgera and Currumbin Creeks, the beach and the ocean.
“The building is an edifice but is not iconic. It stands in stark contrast to the existing local identity and sense of place.”
But the developer argues the project will add to the varied skyline for Palm Beach.
The building’s height was consistent with others at Coolangatta and Broadbeach, and added variety for the Palm Beach-Burleigh area, consultants said.
The new tower would ensure an “ordered local skyline is delivered” and the scale and intensity of the proposed development was appropriate for a prominent intersection of Palm Beach.
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The Bulletin can reveal the development application for The Collective has been rejected by Gold Coast City Council planners.
The Palm Beach Elanora Community Group, representing more than 2000 residents, had staged one of the biggest recent community campaigns on the southern Coast to stop the project. Its leaders believed approval would have set a precedent for building height levels.
In a response, developers had recently reduced the tower by three levels to 18 storeys. The site is on the corner of Palm Beach Ave and the Gold Coast Hwy – a key retail area.
But the group in its final submissions to council planners argued it was still too high.
Palm Beach Elanora Community Group convener Lancia Jordana said the revised proposal failed to comply with the City Plan and significantly exceeded the 39-metre height limit for the Palm Beach district centre.
“It also does not comply with the uplift provision for this district centre under the City Plan,” Ms Jordana said in a letter to the council.
The approval would set an unacceptable precedent for other similar developments in Palm Beach, she added.
“The Palm Beach district centre is described in the City Plan as the ‘lowest in the hierarchy’ of centres, which residents supported. It is therefore intended to be the least intense centre,” Ms Jordana said.
Submission breakdowns show 127 people supported the original application and 1972 opposed, most of those from Palm Beach and the nearby suburbs of Elanora and Currumbin.
Objections also cited residential density and traffic and parking impacts.
Area councillor Daphne McDonald congratulated residents on her Facebook page on Monday, and after talking to council officers listed 11 reasons for the refusal including:
• The development does not qualify for the building height uplift.
• The building height significantly exceeds the established height character within the surrounding area.
• The development is likely to cause an amenity impact to the surrounding area as a result of the potential traffic impacts onto Palm Beach Avenue.
“Thank you to this community for your unwavering backing and support of me expressing concern regarding this application if it were approved by council,” Cr McDonald wrote.
“This is a positive outcome for Palm Beach and our wider community.”
Ms Jordana late on Monday applauded council’s decision to reject the project.
“This is a huge win for united community action. We’re pleased that at last council has listened to the voice of the community, rather than just developers,” she said.
“Our success in challenging this gross overdevelopment sends a clear message – not just
to council but also to developers – that they should stick to the sensible limits imposed by the City Plan, which have been agreed to by residents.”
If it had been approved the Collective tower would have been the second highest building in Palm Beach after Royal Palms Resort, which, at 25 storeys, was built in 1980 before the current City Plan.
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