Knock back leads to court
Councillors ignore their own advice
AN EAST Toowoomba resident has taken the Toowoomba Regional Council to court after it went against advice from its planning department and knocked back an application for a subdivision.
Homeowner Carolen Collins wanted to subdivide her 12 Burns St block into two, effectively cutting it in half, with plans to build another home on the Bruce Street frontage at the rear.
She intended demolishing the garage at the rear of the block to make way for the new home.
The street is included in the council’s neighbourhood character overlay area, and records show the existing house was built in 1910.
A council planning officer’s report, which was included in the minutes of the September 27 special meeting where the application was refused, said: “The proposed development is considered to achieve compliance with the applicable assessment benchmarks. On this basis,
the proposed development is recommended for approval subject to the conditions in the recommendation.”
However, the council unanimously voted against the application, arguing in the meeting there wasn’t adequate parking spaces in
the street and any changes to the front of the house would be “sinful”.
Mrs Collins received a decision notice refusing her application on October 4, on the grounds that the application did not comply with aspects of the
neighbourhood character overlay code, or the reconfiguring a lot code.
Lawyers for Mrs Collins are seeking that the appeal be allowed, the subdivision approved and that the council pay all costs relating to the proceedings.
The council’s planning and development committee chair Cr Chris Tait said the appeal was lodged in the Planning and Environment Court on Monday and that the council was waiting to be served with the notice of appeal.