Rosny plan irks new alderman

A HOTEL developer’s plans to resubmit the same proposal for Rosny Hill it withdrew only two months ago have been slammed by a newly elected alderman.

Hunter Developments director Robert Morris-Nunn said on Sunday no changes had been made to the application for a $50 million hotel it planned to present to the new Clarence City Council.

Alderman Tony Mulder said that would be a slap in the face to the new council.

“It’s disingenuous for the developer to resubmit the exact same Rosny Hill proposal that was withdrawn in a failed bid to take the heat off the mayor during the recent council elections,” Mr Mulder said.

He said instead of a 100room development, a modest proposal with a subterranean restaurant and function centre excavated below the existing car park had been well received by residents.

The Greens criticised the resubmission of unchanged plans as a “cynical move” by the developer.

“It appears as though the proponent shelved the project until the council elections were over so ratepayers didn’t get a say through their choice of councillors,” Franklin MP Rosalie Woodruff said.

“[It] will leave many Eastern Shore residents angry.”

New alderman Luke Edmunds said the council had a “clean slate and a fresh opportunity for all parties to get the public consultation right”.

Fellow new alderman Dean Ewington said he had no issue with an unchanged proposal.

“I ran on a pro-business, pro-development platform. We can have development and preserve the environment at the same time. They are not mutually exclusive.”