City to tick off on 18-level tower which sets the mark for Palm Beach retail heart
Palm Beach will see a new height limit for buildings after council’s planning committee approved a big tower in the coastal suburb’s commercial heart.
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Palm Beach will see a new height limit for buildings after council’s planning committee approved an 18-level tower in the coastal suburb’s commercial heart.
In a stunning outcome, the application was not debated, meaning it had the unanimous support of all the councillors at committee during Tuesday’s meeting.
Area councillor Josh Martin, who was been vigorous since his election in March on opposing tower developments, could not participate in the debate due to a prescribed conflict of interest.
He had made a written submission, as a resident prior to being elected, in August 2022 opposing the project.
The latest development application by Changfa City Ltd reduced its tower from 21 levels to 18 levels at a site on 1134 Gold Coast Highway occupied by two-level offices and shops.
Gold Coast City Council officers in a report had recommended approval.
City planning chair Mark Hammel said the application had been under assessment for several years with talks about the height of the building at the forefront.
The current City Plan envisaged district centres to have a greater intensity than surrounding uses, and for buildings to be taller than those outside the precinct.
Mr Martin, outside the meeting, confirmed he could not take part in the debate because he was an objector. He is restricted in being able to make comments.
“That was two years ago. It’s unusual for a DA to go that long. I made that (objection) as a resident, not a councillor,” he said.
The application is likely to be ticked off at full council unless another councillor debates it.
City planning chair Mark Hammel told the Bulletin: “No planning committee member decided to pull the item out for further discussion today.
“The item now goes to full council where any councillor can discuss it if they wish.”
The site is a key intersection on the corner of the Gold Coast Highway and Palm Beach Ave. Concerns by 1371 submitters included traffic, parking and density.
Officers in their report said coastal centres were generally afforded taller building heights than inland centres. Coolangatta had a significantly higher building height than Coomera, despite being a lower order of centre, they said.
Palm Beach was similar to the Runaway Bay district centre but much lower in maximum building height than Broadbeach which had unlimited height.
Officers noted a recent court judgement approving a development located on the southern side of Palm Beach Ave at 1128-1132 Gold Coast Highway.
“This judgement approved a development that provides a significant increase to the scale of built form that currently exists within the centre, noting that the site is located on the opposite street corner to the subject site, with a slightly smaller site area,” they wrote.
In September, a Planning and Environment Court Judge defied the Gold Coast City Council and 1863 objectors to green light the 18-storey tower on that site.
GOING UP: COUNCIL’S BIG MOVE ON GIANT PALM BEACH TOWER
Palm Beach is about to see a new height limit for buildings with council poised to approve an 18-level tower revitalising its tired ageing commercial heart.
The development application by Changfa City Ltd has been reduced from 21 levels to 18 levels at a site on 1134 Gold Coast Highway occupied by two level offices and shops.
Gold Coast City Council officers in a report to Tuesday’s planning committee have recommended approval.
City planning chair Mark Hammel said the application had been under assessment for several years with talks about the height of the building at the forefront.
“I believe a significant driver of the reduction in height and many other changes was feedback on the application during public notification,” he said.
Mr Hammel said the current City Plan envisaged district centres to have a greater intensity than surrounding uses, and for buildings to be taller than those outside the precinct.
“This doesn’t necessarily mean that 18 levels is the “mark” – 18 levels has been recommended by officers after a detailed assessment as the appropriate height for this site,” he said.
“Each received application is put through this detailed assessment with a recommendation at the end based on the findings. ‘The mark’ will work out to be the sum of all of these individually assessed applications.”
The site is a key intersection on the corner of the Gold Coast Highway and Palm Beach Avenue. Concerns by 1371 submitters included traffic, parking and density.
Officers said coastal centres were generally afforded taller building heights than inland centres. Coolangatta had a significantly higher building height than Coomera, despite being a lower order of centre, they said.
Palm Beach was similar to the Runaway Bay district centre but much lower in maximum building height than Broadbeach which had unlimited height.
Officers noted a recent court Judgement approving a development located on the southern side of Palm Beach Avenue at 1128-1132 Gold Coast Highway.
“This judgement approved a development that provides a significant increase to the scale of built form that currently exists within the centre, noting that the site is located on the opposite street corner to the subject site, with a slightly smaller site area,” they wrote.
The City had rejected a proposal to redevelop The Collective venue site with a highrise, with 95 per cent of submissions opposing the tower.
The submissions argued the tower was far taller than other proposed buildings and would create traffic issues.
But Judge Michael Williamson in his judgement said: “While the building height exceedence is an important issue, it is not fatal to the success of the development application.”
The judgement noted the planned Stage 4 light rail extension which will run past the tower.
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