‘Legacy’ issues from council’s amalgamation in 2010 are still dogging the Gladstone Regional Council, forcing their hand to approve projects which would likely be knocked back under the current scheme.
An application for a Material Change of Use by Atkinson Homes Gladstone resulting in the conversion of a rural lot on Stowe Road into 61 rural residential allotments ranging from 4,000 to 39,000 m2 was approved today in Council’s general meeting.
The original Development Application for the 61-block estate, close to the existing Calliope Golf Course estate, was approved in 2008, under the superseded Calliope Town Planning scheme.
Back then, the development did not proceed and the application lapsed, but resubmitting almost ten years later in March 2017, Atkinson Homes Gladstone had the right for the estate to be assessed under the scheme under which they originally applied – the superseded Calliope Town Plan.
“The most serious point of contention is need: if it was assessed under the current scheme it would be refused,” Manager Development Services Helen Robertson said, despite recommending that the application be approved.
Under a ‘sunset’ clause imposed by Council, the development must be completed in four years, including operational and infrastructure works, complying with several conditions imposed upon the development by council.
Stymied by the requirements of the act, Mayor Matt Burnett asked Ms. Robertson if this was the last application which would be assessed under a superseded scheme, forcing the council’s hand to approve new homes the region does not need:
“I don’t think it’s the last, but I think we’re very close,” she said.
