Toukley residents who waged a strong campaign for many years against a large-scale boarding house say that Central Coast Council failed to back them, and ultimately it was approved by Council following Land and Environment Court mediation.
“It lays fairly and squarely at the feet of Council,” said David Isaac, who represents the group Concerned Residents of Proposal for Boarding, Toukley which comprises 480 local residents.
“Our objection isn’t against the Court because all they did was basically seal the deal done by the developer and Council – our disappointment is extended to Council and their failure to equitably represent the objections that we raised, and also misrepresented our objections to the Commissioner,” he said.
Land and Environment Court (LEC) Commissioner Elizabeth Espinosa delivered her Judgement on February 8 to approve the transformation of a rundown old nursing home at 51 Peel St, Toukley into a boarding house for up to 92 people, mostly men.
Local residents have always strongly opposed multiple revisions of the development application dating back to 2018, mainly because of the over-development and lack of support services in the surrounding area.
“The Toukley group is not against appropriately scaled affordable housing and we would have been prepared to accept a housing development with larger rooms to accommodate around 30 people, including women and children,” Isaac said.
“We consider that a development jamming 90-plus men into 12sqm rooms is going to have a substantial adverse social impact,” he said.
The project was initially rejected by Council and because of the high number of objections it was passed to the Local Planning Panel which also refused the development because of its high density, substandard amenities and communal areas, poor building design and institutional feel.
Owners G Ahadizadeh Pty Ltd, Mr A Ahadizadeh and Mr C Ahadizadeh, operating under the company name Seranin Group, lodged a fifth revised development application and at the same time filed an appeal with the LEC against deemed refusal of the new DA.
That appeal brought about a conciliation conference where a LEC Commissioner heard from resident representatives, Council, the Panel and the developer.
David Isaac, on behalf of the Concerned Residents of Proposal for Boarding, Toukley, asked Council what amendments had been made to the DA subsequent to the conciliation conference and on what basis Council made its decisions, however to date, all correspondence has been ignored.
“We feel very let down by Council, we don’t have any elected representatives to back us up, and this Council under Administration has failed us and misrepresented the community’s concerns in this case, and is ignoring its accountability,” Isaac said.
“Information provided to the Commissioner refers to 100 submissions but that is grossly under-stated as 275 were submitted and there were more than 460 concerned members in the community group that joined resources to place the objections.
“The Judgement took into account that the parties (developer and Council) agreed that all the objections raised were addressed by the amended plans and information – another misrepresentation – because it was clearly stated in 270 written submissions to Council that concerns by the objectors were not addressed, and we doubt whether the LEC even saw the submissions.
“Then there’s the mention in the Judgement that the respondent (Council) agrees that the proposed development was compatible with the character of the area.
“Why would Council agree that the scale of this development is compatible with the character of the area when clearly 460 residents, who Council is required to represent, do not?
“The Council has fundamentally failed to represent the interests of the people,” Isaac said.
One of the long list of conditions for approval of the boarding house is compliance with the Plan of Management which includes meetings every three months between the Boarding House Manager and a Community Liaison Committee comprised of local community members, local police and Council to ensure the boarding house is a good neighbour and is able to understand and proactively address any emerging problems or issues.
“The management plan is a good thing and all the rules and regulations are there in black and white,” Isaac said.
“Since it appears there is no way now of stopping the boarding house, then in accordance with the management plan, I’d rather participate in a committee, and I know some of the other locals would too, so we can help to have it run properly rather than have it be a problem in the neighbourhood,” Isaac said.
Central Coast Council was approached for comment and issued the following statement.
Council participated in a Court-ordered supervised mediation, at which the Land and Environment Court Commissioner presided.
During mediation Council was able to raise issues of concern to both Council and Toukley community residents as identified during the DA consultation.
Both before, and during the mediation, the applicant (developer) made further and extensive revisions to the application, and in doing so, resolved all of the contentions raised by Council.
Changes to the development agreed through the conciliation process include on site waste collection, improved aesthetic design, increased landscaping, and increased noise abatement.
It should be noted that community members who objected to the final DA submitted, had the opportunity to address the Court prior to the mediation.
Council is committed to the provision of quality affordable housing on the Central Coast to help alleviate the housing crisis.
Council supports the Government’s Housing Strategy 2041 and Central Coast Regional Plan 2041, which is in line with Council’s own Affordable and Alternative Housing Strategy and soon to be released draft Central Coast Housing Strategy.
Sue Murray