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Collapse Issue 467 - 08 Apr 2019Issue 467 - 08 Apr 2019
Collapse  NEWS NEWS
Development action groups to consider joining forces
Mehrtens questions generator pollution at Woy Woy tip
Palm Beach ferry runs aground
Technical failure blamed for ferry grounding
Nursing home approved for sensitive bushland
ACF branch to raise Hillview St objections with Ministers
Celebrating 100 years
Approval to strata subdivide Atlantis building
Chamber calls for 'swift action' on local planning panels
CCTV cameras installed at Umina
Anzac Day services around the Peninsula
Veterans' families to receive commemorate crosses
Environment network to screen seismic testing film
Labor promises second Ettalong foreshore project
Money raised to restore community garden
Almost a tonne of waste taken from Empire Bay waters
Feedback wanted on water price drop
Charity run to include new event
Bays group holds annual meeting
Easter book fair held for 43rd time
Events planned for Youth Week
Free school holiday activities
Free activities for families with young children
Kids' market will have Easter theme
Volunteers receive community service awards
Pride of workmanship awards have been presented
Rotary to develop better communication strategies
Ulysses motorcycle club looks for new members
CWA members take out competition awards
CWA vegan scones in demand at festival
Trees planted at CWA hall
Men's Shed to hold garage sale
Dinghy retrieved from channel
Garage sale for Sydney eye hospital
Produce swap at community garden
Easter hat parade
Elders speak on Harmony Day
Suicide awareness program to run at community centre
Charity lunch for disabled surfers' association
Pre-school children visit retirement village
Collapse  FORUM FORUM
Ettalong commercial zone should have three-storey limit
We need to address State planning laws
Time for exhaustive consultation again
Controls are designed to prevent the worst development
Seriously reckless behaviour in school traffic
Consider an independent
Collapse  HEALTH HEALTH
Creating a 'warmer softer environment'
Cancer diagnosis was at once a relief and devastating
New plastic surgeon at hospital
Knitting blankets for charity
Collapse  ARTS ARTS
Author to speak at art exhibition launch
New gallery has launched
Collapse  EDUCATION EDUCATION
Text messages used to chase parents of absentees
Musicians and singers perform under the stars
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Photography students make pin-hole camera
Grant for a new garden
Selling cakes on election day
Chinese folk dancers for Harmony Day
Students learn history from Grandpa Fred
Hall redevelopment
Learning about native wildlife
Parents' group seeks volunteers
Keep sick children at home, principal asks
Collapse  SPORT SPORT
Jemma Smith named for three international events
Southern Spirit juniors finish an undefeated season
Ettalong junior part of winning Central Coast bowls side
Umina juniors contest grand final
Bowlers celebrate work of their patron
All swimmers competed in finals
Rugby league players selected for schoolboy teams
Stridsman trains in Colorado Springs
Jemma Smith featured in national campaign
Ettalong competes in summer league
Ettalong women's major singles final

Controls are designed to prevent the worst development

Matthew Wales is correct that the city's current planning controls were adopted after much discussion and scrutiny ("Planning controls were result of exhaustive consultation", Peninsula News edition 466).

However, that doesn't mean that they were logical, scientifically supportable or even fully understood by all those who took part in the process.

In fact, it is extremely likely that a majority of those involved did not appreciate the implications of many of the elements included in the controls.

Similarly, many of those now complaining about the standards don't really grasp the purpose of the controls and are fixated on one particular issue, such as the height of buildings, without realising that a set of standards should be internally consistent and can't be just mucked about with, one item at a time.

That said, it has to be admitted that the present controls are quite arbitrary and aren't particularly consistent, so it is difficult to sustain an argument that departing from them will cause irrevocable damage.

Development controls are not designed to ensure the best standard of development. They are designed to prevent the worst kind of development.

The outcome is that almost everything that results is the second-worst kind of development.

The gradual uglification of the Central Coast is observable by anybody who cares to look, but enhancement requires positive action, and that is anathema to the mindset of our councillors and to apologists.

Of course, the protestors are incontestably right on one point.

If the controls were really appropriate, it would not be necessary to have constant non-conforming approvals given, and we could avoid the angst of reading about another breach of the standards in every issue of Peninsula News.

Council's professional staff members regularly assess applications as being suitable when they fall outside the parameters of the Development Control Plan, but this is merely a demonstration that the parameters are wrong and need to be adjusted.

Unfortunately, the recent exercise in amalgamating the two disparate sets of controls inherited by the Council failed to take the opportunity of introducing some sense into the compilation and has, in some instances, introduced new and illogical complications that will inevitably lead to complaints and challenges, rather than ameliorate the dissatisfaction widely felt.

Finally, newcomers are more likely to discern shortfalls than long-term residents who tend to become apathetic about mediocrity that has been complained about for years and never corrected.

Furthermore, the views of long-time residents, whose tenure will be relatively short, are less important than the views of incomers who will long have to bear the results of decisions previously made without their participation and without any appreciation of their wishes and tastes.

Development controls are a blunt instrument and will never produce a high-quality (not to mention an obligatorily vibrant) living environment.

Therefore, it is difficult to show that the breaching of development controls, except in the most egregious circumstances, will have a notably negative impact.

The Atlantis development at Ettalong probably will, but the two five-storey buildings in Umina probably won't.

You pay your money and you make your choice.





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