An application was lodged in October to develop a 6736m2 parcel of land. 

Resident Peter King said a group of residents have come together to lobby for changes to be made before the development is approved.

“A strata plan is totally out of keeping with the character of the surrounding homes. Each home would be built on half the size of existing blocks in Seawind Chase, Rainbow Beach Drive and St Lucia Place, with little open space,” Peter said.

The proposal was put to the council’s development assessment panel (DAP) in December where a consensus on the development was not reached.

Dan Croft and David Troemel, on the DAP, voted that the development be determined by granting consent subject to certain conditions. 

The dissenting recommendation from Paul Drake was that the development application be refused consent, stating the proposal was inconsistent with the building setback provisions in the council’s development control plan.

Developer Geoff Priest said this had been addressed. The plan put forward to the DAP contained an error, stating the northern boundary at one point showed a setback of 0.9m. The point in question is 1.9m, within the range of compliance for boundary setbacks. The remaining properties on the northern side are, on average, three metres from the boundary.

Peter King said the proposal would see the land mainly covered by homes and access drives with a one metre high retaining wall topped by a 1.8m fence backing onto homes on Rainbow Beach Drive.

He said residents of St Lucia Place are concerned about a raft of issues including narrow driveways, poor emergency service and garbage collection access, inadequate parking and stormwater problems.

“We knew the site would be developed but expected it would fit in with its surroundings and not be so dense. We would like to see Torrens Title homes like its neighbours,” Peter said.

Geoff Priest said the development, 16 single-storey dwellings, complied with council requirements.

“The roads are private roads and comply with required standards,” he said.

“Garbage will be collected from the entry to the development. Stormwater issues have been thoroughly engineered and we will be going beyond the requirements to ensure neighbouring residences’ current stormwater issues will be improved.

“Regarding the parking requirements, we actually have seven more car parks than the minimum required and emergency services have approved the development for their needs.

“Legally the site could have been developed with housing covering 65 per cent of the land. What we have planned for the site is housing on 35 per cent of the land. The dwellings will be to a high architectural standard, each individually designed, low maintenance homes with two to three bedrooms.

“There is a high demand and low supply of homes like this in the Bonny Hills area.”

The recommendation in the business papers for the council meeting states that council should determine the development application and “the application has been assessed in accordance with Section 79C of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.

“Issues raised during assessment and public exhibition of the application have been considered in the assessment of the application. Where relevant, conditions have been recommended to manage the impacts attributed to these issues.

“The site is suitable for the proposed development, is not contrary to the public's interest and will not have a significant adverse social, environmental or economic impact.”