Manly teal candidate Joeline Hackman attacked over ‘bulky’ reno double standards

Sydney teal campaigning on integrity and development standards takes council to court to get ‘bulky’ home reno approved.

Manly teal independent Joeline Hackman Is facing accusations of hypocrisy after she succeeded in obtaining approval for the renovation of her Northern Beaches home following a bitter two-year dispute with her neighbours. Picture: Supplied

The teal independent candidate for Manly is facing accusations of hypocrisy after she succeeded in obtaining approval for the renovation of her Northern Beaches home following a bitter two-year dispute with her neighbours.

Joeline Hackman – who is campaigning on a platform of environmentalism, integrity and rigorous standards for medium-density developments – took the Northern Beaches Council to court after her renovations were twice knocked back by the council’s planning process.

Ms Hackman, a freelance business consultant, and her husband Gregory Hackman, an anaesthetist, will add an extra floor, bedroom and bathroom as well as building a pool and increasing the height and width of their home.

Ms Hackman’s neighbours lodged several objections with the council to the proposed development due to the impact on their homes, before the Manly candidate appealed in the NSW Land and Environment Court.

The home of Manly teal Joeline Hackman. Picture: Britta Campion/The Australian

In an address to council in late February, neighbour Peter Conroy said Ms Hackman’s development application breached several provisions of the Northern Beaches Council development control panel, including limits on height and the number of allowed storeys.

“The DA was refused by the council on two occasions,” he said. “Council could not support (the DA) due to visual privacy, blocking access to solar energy, boundary setbacks, excessive bulk, scale and mass.”

Architect drawings showing a development application by Manly teal independent Joeline Hackman for her Manly home.

Mr Conroy declined to comment to The Australian, as did the other neighbours objecting to the development, Sheri and Andrew Petersen.

Speaking after his neighbour, Mr Petersen told council the development exceeded the building height standards, along with a number of other breaches, saying it did not comply with “any of the building envelope controls”.

“During the Land and Environment appeal, an even worse development was put forward and approved,” he said.

Ms Hackman said in response to questions from The Australian: “The changes to my family home were lawfully approved by council and the Land and Environment Court, who followed their normal processes for consultation and approval.”

Independent NBC councillor Vince de Luca questioned Ms Hackman’s double standards when it came to her own development, as he slammed the council’s handling of the process.

“Ms Hackman has spoken against the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council proposal which includes affordable housing and has arrogantly dictated that it should be a national park,” Mr de Luca told The Australian. “However, I do not think she has applied the same standards regarding development in the pursuance of her own development, which neighbours have advised they believe is a gross overdevelopment.”

Ms Hackman is campaigning with fellow teal candidate Jacqui Scruby against a proposed development proposal at the Lizard Rock site in Belrose and has attacked the state government over a lack of transparency in planning and development approvals.

The Lizard Rock development was first knocked back by the NBC but is being fast-tracked under new NSW planning rules.

Ms Hackman is seeking to ­unseat Environment Minister James Griffin, who holds Manly with a margin of 12.9 per cent.