A recent DA was approved by a Council officer without any
reasons given for why the objections were rejected. Mark McPherson, a resident
of Alexandria, said that after lodging an objection on a development proposal
in May, he received no reasons why his objection was rejected, but was told
that ‘it was taken into account’ when the DA was approved.
According to the Council, the assessment of a DA takes into
consideration a number of things, including the likely impact of the
development.
However, in the initial assessment, where a Planning Officer
visits the site and considers the proposal, objections about the likely impact
are not factored in. Instead, objections are weighed up against the planning
officer’s report at a later date.
McPherson says that they should be taken into account when
the officer first makes the assessment, because “that’s where most of the
ultimate decision is made.”
“There is no clear checklist or report on the objections,”
says McPherson, who received no feedback in the four weeks between lodging the
objection and the approval. “I would expect a document in their file going
through each objection – but no, you’re not sure what their decision regarding your
objection is,” he said.
Tony Pooley, Labor Party Councillor, told the SSH, “I think
it’s fair to say there’s not an ongoing dialogue for objectors – and if the
item is on the verge of going before Council, the people making objections are
not properly informed.”
DA’s go before Council when they are particularly
contentious. Under the old South Sydney Council, any DA with five or more
objections went before the Council. However, there’s no set number for the City
of Sydney, with
Pooley saying ten objections tends to be the current benchmark.
But with two and a half thousand applications made per year,
the Council only deals with about 140 of them – the rest being decided by Council
officers.
Larger scale developments generally do go before the
Council.
Currently at Rosebery, Hillsong Church
is planning to redevelop the old RTA site into a 3,000-seat church, which local
residents fear could increase traffic in the area.
Nick, a Rosebery resident, said that traffic management studies
need to be prioritized. He pointed out that new units planned for the corner of
Portland and Epsom Road could further
increase traffic in the area.
A spokesperson for Hillsong told the SSH that traffic
management was being examined and that underground parking for 800 cars was
currently planned. However, until a DA is lodged later this year, a clear idea
of what’s planned for the site won’t be known.
[Source – South Sydney Herald October 2006]