Paul Weston: When was paradise lost at Palm Beach on the southern Gold Coast?

The blame game is being played about high rise development at Palm Beach, but who is really at fault? The answer might surprise you.

THE blame game is being played about high-rise development at Palm Beach. Are all the cranes the fault of council? Who is really responsible?

Veteran area councillor Daphne McDonald has the solid backing of residents on Facebook. At council planning meetings, she attends committee to oppose code-assessable developments.

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Palm Beach on the southern Gold Coast.

These applications do not require public advertising. Officers almost always approve with minor changes.

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Cr McDonald and planning chair Cameron Caldwell always have a robust debate. The chair and a majority of councillors in committee usually back the officer’s recommendation.

Residents later post on their Facebook pages and a collective groan about this council can be heard on social media south of Tallebudgera Creek.

Cr McDonald is applauded, the rest painted as villains, apart from Peter Young who has constructed consistent arguments about controlling densities.

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Another view of planned high rise building at 22nd Ave Palm Beach.

No residents are in the gallery at council.

If they were, they would hear the officers explain the development is well below the required height under the City Plan.

The application must be assessed on “performance outcomes” — whether the density can be accommodated by the sewers, water supply, roads and closeness to shops and schools.

During debate this week for the nine-storey building application in 22nd Ave, again recommended for approval by officers, they tried to do the right thing by saving some ageing Norfolk Pines out front.

Some car spaces were lost, but Cr Caldwell explained to Cr McDonald that the numbers provided were still above those required under the Plan.

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Councillor Daphne McDonald has taken an anti-development stand on behalf of residents. Photo: Jerad Williams.

Councillor William Owen-Jones touched on a wider issue. How can council apply its density code and oppose a development without risk of the developer saying that was unfair and taking council to court at ratepayers’ expense?

What would happen if the council did not allow the flexibility in the City Plan on density and lock down the developer to seven units in their nine-story tower? Councillor Glenn Tozer suggested “we have to fix the residential density map”.

Cr Caldwell admitted that “much to my frustration” the council in 2016, after deciding to conduct a height and density study of buildings along the coastline, never followed through with the report. “It kept getting put back and now we are in this situation,” he said.

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Palm Beach development on the eastern side of the Gold Coast Highway. Picture: Glenn Hampson,

Cr Tozer told him: “I’m happy to move something to fix that problem right now if you want. So help me understand how we could fix that problem for you, Councillor Caldwell.”

But Cr Caldwell reminded councillors that the City Plan’s focus had been on height rather than density.

“That was the feedback the community gave us. They wanted to know what the building next door was going to look like,” he said.

Do we want only a few people to enjoy living on a redeveloped housing block by the beach? Should density be as prescriptive as height?

The truth is developers are finally falling in love with Palm Beach. The City Plan allows them to build to a certain height — and yes, flexibility around density is being pushed to the limit.

The City Plan is built from community comment and councillors giving voice to that, and it goes back decades. Look down the street at those older and much higher high-rises.

Who is really responsible for the southern Coast cranes?

Each and every one of us.