Mayor opposes Tesrol plans

Gosford mayor Cr Chris Holstein has spoken out against the eight-storey beachfront Tesrol development proposed for Ettalong.

"The current proposal by Tesorol exceeds even the controls recommended by the Peninsula Urban Directions Strategy (PUDS) with up to eight storeys proposed for part of the site whereas PUDS had a recommended height of up to five storeys.

"The development proposed by Tesorol would have a substantial impact on Ettalong Village Centre and council has encouraged the applicant on a number of occasions since the development was first mooted in 1997, to lodge a rezoning application to allow a detailed study of the impact of this proposal on the area including economic impact, social and traffic issues.

"The applicant has chosen to ignore this advice and pursue a simple development application for a single site which will not address the broader implications which would be covered by a rezoning of the land.

"Council has at all times been willing to engage with the applicant to achieve a development which meets community expectations and council has made submissions to the Department of Planning in relation to the present proposal, pointing out the departures from the Peninsula Study.

"We hope that the Department will give consideration to the community consultation which underlies the Peninsula Study when determining this application."

"Some years ago, council undertook an extensive review of planning controls on the Peninsula, through the Peninsula Urban Directions Strategy," Cr Holstein said.

"The study involved extensive public consultation and input and its recommendations appeared to be widely accepted by the people of the Peninsula and were adopted by council.

"That study identified the need for changes to allowable height and density controls in the Ettalong area and recommended the changes be made at the earliest opportunity.

"Council prepared a draft Local Environmental Plan, incorporating changes to controls and forwarded the document to the Department of Planning for their review and concurrence before the plan could be advertised for public comment.

"In response to the policy of standardisation of LEPS, the Department amended the Draft LEP and removed the controls recommended by PUDS.

This resulted in a single height applying to the Ettalong Village Centre.

"It was not council's choice to remove the controls recommended by PUDS."

Cr Holstein also acknowledged that while the Department of Planning did remove council SEPP 1 powers for a short time, they were quickly returned following a review of the use of SEPP 1 by council.

"This clearly showed that the powers had not been abused and were in fact used in a most conservative manner," Cr Holstein said.

Letter, 20 May 2010 Cr Chris Holstein, Gosford mayor