Inner-city unit complex hits appeal road block

A LARGE-SCALE residential development set for the heart of Hobart has hit a road block.

Fragrance Group’s contentious 45-unit complex planned for the former Conserv at ori um of Music site in Sandy Bay Rd was approved by the Hobart City Council on September 7, following months of debate over building heights and suitability.

Now a nearby resident has launched an appeal against the decision.

Hampden Rd resident Julie McConaghy said the council approving 5-7 Sandy Bay Rd development failed to acknowledgetheResourceManagement and Planning Appeal Tribunal decision in 2017 against the Tribe Hotel planned for 9 Sandy Bay Rd.

Mrs McConaghy was part of a group fighting against the proposed $15 million hotel, arguing six-storeys was too high and out of character with the area. The group spent about $50,000 fighting the proposal, with RMPAT finding a 10m height restriction relevant.

“The reason for refusal, (a) incompatibility with scale of nearby building son Wilmot St and (b) lack of transition in height between adjoining buildings, applies equally to the Wilmot St corner section of PLN-19-706 5-7 Sandy Bay Rd,” she wrote in the appeal notice.

“Given the circumstances are the same for both sites on either side of Wilmot St, the same ruling must be applied to each proposal.”

Before the development’s approval it had been scaled back, going from 55 residential apartments to 45.

The tallest section was originally 10 storeys with a maximum height of about 33m, with the second structure seven storeys and about 22m high.

With the proposal recommended for refusal on the grounds that 33m was too high for the site, the developers dropped the development to 27m high.

Perth-based Scanlan Architects said this was achieved by the removal of two central floors, reducing the number of apartments by 10.