THE TWEED www.tweedecho.com.au Volume 4 #13 Thursday, November 24, 2011 Advertising and news enquiries: TWEED’S BEST Phone: (02) 6672 2280 ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE [email protected] [email protected] PAGES 14 - 18 CAB 21,000 copies every week AUDIT LOCAL & INDEPENDENT 7 Bid to stop rule-breaking mansion fails pushed through Tweed Council. It’s believed ‘ ey have existing use rights. It’s not a de- the home’s rst oor is referred to on planning molition, it is a redevelopment of an existing Council de es Hastings Point DCP documents as a ‘boat shed’. building,’ he said. Ironically, it was that home which helped Cr Skinner said property owners had origi- Steve Spencer an overdevelopment which breaches too many spark the community’s decade-long campaign nally been allowed to build three-storey homes rules. for a DCP to ban similar structures from the along the beachfront. A last-ditch stand to stop a controversial beach- Locals now fear the approval will lead to an village. ‘I don’t think there would have been many front mansion at Hastings Point failed during an avalanche of similar bids to build big homes While Cr Skinner didn’t speak during the property owners who would have liked to have extraordinary meeting of Tweed councillors on along the foreshore, forever changing Hasting debate, he told ABC Radio yesterday that the seen their existing rights taken away. You will Tuesday, sparking a community outcry. Point’s village atmosphere. Hasting Point DCP was ‘just a guide’. probably see more applications for similar types Several councillors hoped to persuade Cr Dot e rescission motion, moved by Crs Joan ‘I never supported the Hastings Point DCP of things.’ Holdom to change her mind for the rescission van Lieshout and Katie Milne and supported and I still don’t support it,’ said Cr Skinner. ■ See Editorial, page motion and vote against the project, which in- by mayor Barry Longland, was the council’s volves a block of ats being gutted and redevel- last chance to reverse the decision. Over a year oped into a three-storey mega-home. ago, all three councillors pushed through a Cr Holdom, who originally voted two years new Hastings Point development control plan Unlimited local art, cra for sale ago to support the Hastings Point village plan (DCP), designed to stop so-called ‘McMan- restricting heights of buildings to two storeys, sions’ being built along the foreshore, with was seen as the linch pin in the move, but joined the support of Cr Holdom, but this week and the pro-development bloc on the crucial vote last week, she voted with the pro-development instead, giving no reasons. bloc. Members of that faction (Crs Warren Pol- At stake is the future look of Hastings Point. glase, Kevin Skinner and Phil Youngblutt) also Many of the old homes that line the beachfront failed to speak up and explain their reasons this may soon be rebuilt in the same mega-style. week for pushing through what many see as Mayor Barry Longland urged his colleagues to ignore the threat of legal action. He predicted ‘This is not the end of it’ council would win a Land and Environment Court case if the owners took legal action, as The tight-knit Hastings Point community has the project breached height, length and setback not given up its crusade against the ‘McMan- regulations. sion’ approval, with local lawyer John O’Reilly Cr Longland said that by allowing the re- warning ‘this is not over’. duced setback from the beach ‘we are e ectively ‘This is a kick in the guts for the community. providing these people with a bit of Crown land A complete breakdown of trust between the in their front garden’. people of Hastings Point and the council,’ ‘If anyone is worried about being rolled in the said Mr O’Reilly, one of the leaders of the Land and Environment Court, I’d say we have a campaign to create a development control pretty good case,’ he said. plan (DCP) which retains the suburb’s village Cr van Lieshout warned that the community atmosphere. expected more from Tweed Council. ‘This is not a renovation, it is a completely ‘ is council will be remembered for setting di erent building. the [DCP] rules and this council will be remem- ‘We are considering a range of alternatives bered for abandoning them,’ she said. to make sure the truth about this is brought to ‘I won’t be persuaded by threat of legal action light. This is not over, we will go higher.’ to abandon those rules,’ she said. Mr O’Reilly said the suggestion it was a Planners based much of their decision to ‘merit assessment’ was a ‘complete cop-out’. approve the project on what opponents called ‘The building services unit should never a ‘rogue’ house next door, which is even bigger Tweed Unlimited Arts (TUA) member Chris Knight puts the nishing touches to her magpie prior have been appointed to deal with this case. and higher, and almost as close to the foreshore. to ring. The potter’s work will be among many items handcrafted by local artisans using Austral- Such an important application with these Its approval was granted decades ago in what ian materials which will be on display and sale at the TUA’s special ‘All Australian’ Christmas sale on rami cations should have been dealt with by locals say were ‘questionable’ circumstances, the weekend of December – between .am and .pm DST at the TUA workshop in Pioneer a quali ed town planner.’ when many inappropriate developments were Parade, Banora Point. Entry is free. Photo Je ‘Oven Baked’ Dawson BeachsideBeachside livingliving atat it'sit's best!best! 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