Council plans to fix unit issues
New measures to restrict duplex numbers in suburbs
THE Toowoomba Regional Council will start a crack down on unit developers who crowd out suburban areas with multiple duplexes.
New measures were introduced into the council’s Planning and Development Committee yesterday, which will seek to put controls on the number of dual-occupancy buildings that can exist on a street.
The protocol, called a Temporary Local Planning Instrument (TLPI), is in response to the continued growth in units and duplexes in low to medium-density areas, which Cr Carol Taylor said was “ruining the fabric of communities” like Wyreema and Cambooya.
Cr Chris Tait, who chairs the committee, said developers were taking advantage of the fact that there were currently no code controls on how many dual-occupancy buildings you could have on a normal street.
“We think there’s a bit of an urgency about it, because there’s been a little bit too much (of it) going on – it’s been drawn to our attention about the over-development of sites and we want to control it,” he said.
“(Cr Taylor) was talking about Wyreema and Cambooya, and what she’s saying is there is duplex after duplex being built on a street, so what we’re saying is you can only have so many duplexes on one street.
“Duplexes have always created a fair bit of conjecture, but there are a lot being built at the moment.
“They are the most common type of units and at a point in the past it was decided that because there were so many of them that they were treated like houses.”
Cr Nancy Sommerfield said too many duplexes on a street put pressure on the council’s local infrastructure and disrupted the character of a neighbourhood.
“It changes the fabric but it also has higher impact on your roads, your sewerage, your water, which impacts on your capacity,” she said.
Under the TLPI, developers will have to self-assess and get certified by a town planner that it meets the current planning codes.
The proposal still needs to be approved at the council’s ordinary meeting on Tuesday.