Planned five-storey CBD block progresses through Toowoomba Regional Council after information requests processed

The Toowoomba Regional Council looks set to make a decision soon on a planned apartment block in CBD, with several changes made to it.

PROPOSED: Plans for a new residential unit development submitted to the Toowoomba Regional Council by Barry Bernoth.

A decision on a planned five-storey apartment block in the Toowoomba CBD looks set to arrive this year, after the developers responded to information requests by the council.

Toowoomba businessman and developer Barry Bernoth submitted plans last year for a residential property on Mylne St, not far from the Grand Central Shopping Centre.

Mr Bernoth said at the time the proposal would boost inner-city living, something Toowoomba needed.

“We are looking forward to working with the council to make it a building that is desirable for people to live near the Toowoomba CBD,” he said in September last year.

“If there are more people and (there is more) activity in the CBD, there will be more businesses that want to move in, more cafes that want to set up because there will be more patrons.”

The council responded with an information request in October, citing issues with waste storage, public safety, wastewater and stormwater.

TRC planner Matthew Coleman also requested the applicant change the ground floor residential tenancy to a commercial space.

“The proposed development does not provide a flexible layout able to be used by different uses over time or entrances or openings at ground level to provide interaction between internal uses and the street,” the letter said.

In response, town planner JFP Consultants said the applicant did not want to place a commercial tenancy at the bottom due to its proximity to Grand Central and the current economic climate.

“The introduction of an additional 100 sqm commercial tenancy on the subject site in

such proximity to the Grand Central Shopping Centre is not warranted or viable in this instance,” the response said.

“Further, due to the volatile nature of retail and commercial development in 2020, particularly during the unpredictability of COVID-19, proposing an additional tenancy at the ground level of the proposal which could remain for lease or for sale for an extended period of time would result in an unattractive streetscape with no active frontage.”

However, the developer reduced the number of units from 14 to 12, and removed the refuse collection zone to install landscaping and park benches on the ground floor.

After the council returned a further information request again asking for commercial activation on the ground, floor, JFP Consultants responded earlier this month by saying the applicant would add an astroturfed area to allow for a pop-up space.

“In the future, the AstroTurf lawn could accommodate a small shipping container or similar, outfitted as a commercial tenancy (i.e. pop-up coffee shop,” the response said.

“An operable sliding gate proposed in this space that will allow for interaction between the multipurpose AstroTurf lawn and pedestrian activity on the street, as well as to allow for lock up and privacy for the residents.”

The development is code-assessable, meaning public consultation is not required to meet the planning criteria.