Shock impact: How the Nobby Beach twin towers will cast a shadow on beachside suburb
Beachfront residents say they are horrified by plans which show the shadow impact of the proposed 12-storey twin tower project at the Nobby Beach shopping area. SEE THE PICTURES >>>
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BEACHFRONT residents say they are horrified by a dark shadow that will be cast on their homes if a 12-storey twin tower project gets off the ground at Nobby Beach.
Planning documents lodged by consultants for developers George Manettas and Daniel Veitch show shadows from
The Oxley and The Frederick towers - on the longest day of daylight - will extend across a block of homes south-east of the massive commercial site on the Gold Coast Highway.
However, a consultant says the towers are “designed and located to ensure” the shadow does not detract from a “comfortable living and ground-level environment”.
The buildings’ shadow length is estimated at 0.25 times the height of the building and will not intrude on other sites, the report says.
“The majority of the shadow impacts are cast on the roadway which abuts the site’s southern boundary,” consultants wrote.
The development will be assessed as a mixed-used neighbourhood centre.
Planning consultants say the height of the buildings “will ensure there is a critical mass which reside on the doorstep of the Nobby Beach light rail station”.
The height limit at Nobby Beach is three storeys.
The Bulletin understands opponents are talking to lawyers and architects to build a strong objection to the development application.
“I’ve looked at the shadow diagrams and they’re a horror show,” a resident told the Bulletin.
Steven Camm told residents in an e-petition supported by more than 1200 people: “We are all for redevelopment, however the height limit should be no more than three levels. Please help us keep Nobby Beach’s sun shining all day.”
The Mermaid Beach-Nobby Beach-Miami Beach Community Association will ask residents and business owners at a meeting at the Mermaid Beach Surf Lifesaving Club on Tuesday to respond to council surveying on the effects of light rail on building height.
The meeting starts at 5pm.Community association leader Tom Ray told members in an email: “Please feel free to come along for an informal discussion to share information and ideas for how to best respond to council with our local community feedback.”
The planning documents posted on the private Miami Residents Group Facebook page have fired up opponents.
“Like what the actual f*** — what is the point of blocking (the sun from) three-quarters of Nobby for one development,” one resident wrote.
Another posted: “What an eyesore, who wants to live in an area with gigantic buildings. If they (the council) relax the (three-level) height restrictions, it will open the beautiful Nobbys to more high rises everywhere.”
But some residents welcome urban change: “The developments should be approved at Nobbys because they look a lot better than the old dumps there now,” one wrote in response to a Bulletin story.
LIGHT RAIL EXPECTED TO PLAY KEY ROLE
LIGHT rail is expected to play a key role in the Nobby Beach towers being approved with fewer car parks than the City Plan requires as residents start campaigning against the project.
Planning documents lodged with council by consultants for the developers show the two 12-storey tower development – on top of exceeding the three storey height limit – also does not meet car parking requirements under the City Plan.
But that will change once the trams pass by the site in 2024 as part of light rail Stage 3a — just before the development of The Oxley and The Frederick buildings are completed in 2025.
Since the project was announced last week, almost 600 residents have signed a petition saying “we don’t want high rises at Nobby Beach”.
A resident wrote: “This is an outrageous destruction of our local village feel and community.”
Another added: “It will ruin the vibe at Nobbys, and take away what makes it so special — we don’t need another Surfers Paradise or Broadbeach.”
The Bulletin can reveal consultants in planning documents refer to how stage 3 light rail between Broadbeach and Burleigh and the proposed Nobby Beach station will overcome parking challenges.
Consultants admit required “transport hub” parking numbers “may not be appropriate for the Nobby Beach village at this time”.
The proposed 217 car parking spaces to be provided for the development is less than the 286 spaces required under the City Plan.
“But well in excess of what is required for similar developments located along the light rail corridor and is considered to be an appropriate balance between the two rates,” consultants said.
Road network changes were planned as part of the light rail project, which would remove through traffic from the village and divert those movements to other routes.
“Overall, it is expected that there will be a net reduction in traffic in the village,” consultants said. They believe a detailed assessment of traffic impacts was not needed due to the trams.
Area councillor Pauline Young is urging residents to provide feedback to a survey on a Neighbourhood Framework, which continues until June 21, to guide planning on the route.
Cr Young said a whole of city questionnaire had begun to get feedback on the 6.7km light rail corridor, which would be followed by a more specific survey before September on issues like height on the corridor and impact on residential streets.
City Plan updates protected a large chunk of the eastern side of the Gold Coast Highway but in the Nobby Beach precinct there were a few sites which could benefit from good neighbourhood planning than “just saying a flat out no to height”.
Cr Young believes there needs to be some “give and take” where if developers offered up to 400 underground car parks the council could provide additional height.
”Planning wise, we are looking to, and I’m very supportive of it. Let’s speak to the residents and get some feedback before we start putting things in place,” she said.
PREVIOUSLY: TWO GIANT TOWERS PLANNED FOR NOBBY BEACH
A PAIR of well-known Gold Coast businessmen want to build two towers in central Nobby Beach which are four-times the size allowed by the city plan.
Businessmen George Manettas and Daniel Veitch, who last year unveiled plans for two neighbouring high-end shopping centres in the suburb, now want to expand the projects to create a pair of 12-storey towers.
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New plans filed with council this week would see eight levels of residential units added on top of two already-approved three-storey shopping centres fronting the Gold Coast Highway and Lavarack Road.
The proposed towers are four times higher than the Nobby zoning, which allows for buildings of three levels or up to 15m.
The Oxley and The Frederick projects, if approved, would be the biggest projects in the suburb’s history.
They will be built just a handful of metres from a light rail station and its construction is expected to be timed so it is finished once stage 3 is completed in late 2024 or early 2025.
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Designed by BDA Architecture, the mixed-used precinct is intended to resemble Brisbane’s James Street and Noosa’s Hastings Street.
“Our clients are seeking a much-needed upgrade to the beloved village that complements the existing village but improves the amenity into the future given the growth we are experiencing,” said BDA director Darren Greenaway.
“The development footprint remains the same as the initial proposal already approved by council, but its added height now caters towards a more mixed-use area with a new focus on residential apartments within that footprint.”
It comes just a week after longstanding Nobby Beach business owners revealed they were moving out of the suburb ahead of construction beginning on the tram extension, fearing the impact of building works on their livelihoods.
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Mr Manettas and Mr Veitch are Nobby Beach’s two biggest commercial landholders.
The Oxley will be built on the north side of Lavarack Road while the southern complex, The Frederick, will sit on the southern corner of the road.
They have been pitched by Mr Manettas and Mr Veitch as a “sprawling coastal oasis of plazas, open air dining, and tree laced avenues” in “what is anticipated to become an iconic Gold Coast restructure.”
The Frederick is named for Frederick Fowler, a timber hauler and grazier whose cow Nobby went missing near Nobby Beach in the 1880s.
The Oxley is named for surveyor John Oxley who led an expedition aboard the Mermaid that took in the Tweed Valley and South Stradbroke Island in 1823.
The Bulletin revealed the redevelopment plans for Nobby Beach in August 2020.
Mr Manettas, who sold the Coco’s shopping centre at Carrara for $23.9 million in 2015, has $11.75 million invested in the shops that run south from Lavarack Rd to Chairlift Ave and sit on 2167 sqm of land.
The $12.8 million investment by Mr Veitch, a 21-year Nobby resident and developer of Broadbeach and Southport apartment towers, takes in properties that span 2406 sqm fronting both the highway and the northern side of Lavarack Rd.
Originally published as Shock impact: How the Nobby Beach twin towers will cast a shadow on beachside suburb
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