BRUCE MOLLOY, PALM BEACH

THE necessity of development to the economic welfare of the Gold Coast as attested by Soheil Abedian and your editorial yesterday is indisputable. But what sort of development?

The recent council decision to approve a building at Palm Beach that massively exceeds the normal provisions of the city plan in terms of density, coverage, height and setbacks, with bedrooms barely a third in area of the average for the area, begs the question: “Why was it approved?”

The chair of the GCCC planning committee was quoted as answering because of the “subtropical excellence” of its balcony design.

Fair go. Must the residents of Palm Beach, hundreds of whom objected to the planned development, now brace for an influx of tourists and would-be buyers flocking to bask in the magnificence of balcony design?

I suspect not, though people will continue to come to Palm Beach for its beaches and village lifestyle, the very qualities at risk from a proliferation of these monstrous, monolithic towers. They are often out of character with surrounding areas, overshadowing neighbours, overtaxing infrastructure, destroying visual corridors and making on-street parking adjacent to beaches a near-impossibility.

Development is necessary, but surely it should display aesthetic design consistent with the character of the neighbourhood. Unfortunately in Palm Beach it seldom does, as developers scramble to extract maximum dollars per square metre. After all, they usually won’t be living anywhere near the results.

Come on councillors, in future play fair by observing the spirit of the city plan, approving only necessary developments within normal limits, and granting relaxations only when they’re based on solid evidence, – not on some subjectively specious assertion.