21 December 2023 - HLPP

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Hawkesbury Local Planning Panel meeting for the 21st of December 2023. I understand that we have two attendees with us on Zoom, so welcome to Rebecca and Nathan. This panel has been appointed by the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces and the Council to determine certain categories of development applications. My name is John Brunton, and I will be chairing the meeting today due to the sudden withdrawal of Louise Byrne. The other panel members today are Juliet Grant, an independent expert, and Preeti Karan, a community representative. I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional people of the land of the Hawkesbury, the Dharug people, who for countless generations have been part of this land, this land that sustained them, that they valued and cared for this country.

We acknowledge their elders and express our respect for them. As a courtesy to others, please keep your microphones on mute at all times unless you're being asked to speak. This meeting is being audio-visually recorded. If part of the meeting is held in closed session, it will not be recorded. So please be aware that panels follow a standard procedure and established protocols as follows. In terms of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act, personal information provided at the meeting will be recorded. The provision of any information that is recorded is voluntary. Any person who does not wish to be recorded should not address the panel. For the benefit of those who will be addressing the panel, it is expected that you will refrain from making any insult, allegation or personal reflection against any person present or not.

This request relates to both your address to the panel and to any answers that you may give in response to questions. Under the panel's code of conduct, panel members are required to disclose any pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests in relation to matters on today's agenda, and each panelist has completed a disclosure form. I declare that I have no conflicts of interest in relation to today's agenda, and ask each of the panel members whether they have any conflicts of interest to declare. So, Juliet?

No conflicts from me, thank you.

Priti?

No conflicts, thank you. The panel has only one item on the agenda today. Panel members have familiarised themselves with the site and its context. They've read the assessment report prepared by the council officer and the assessment from the independent consultant. Only those persons who have registered to speak will be permitted to address the panel. I believe that Nathan and Rebecca have registered. If there's anybody else, can anyone please tell me? That's all, just the two speakers. Okay. Speakers are usually allowed three minutes, although if necessary I can permit additional time. At the end of any comments that you make, please remain on Zoom because panel members may wish to ask you some questions.

Once you have addressed the panel, the panel will adjourn into closed session to deliberate.

The panel will resume the meeting to announce its decision in public after that deliberation. The determinations of the panel will be confirmed in the official minutes, which will be available on the council's website soon after the meeting. So

The item on today's agenda is a development application DA 0302 /23 for 27 William Cox Drive, Richmond. The development application is for alterations and additions to an existing dwelling house. I'd like to ask, I'm not sure whether Nathan or Rebecca would like to go first, as we only have speakers in favour of the recommendation. Who would like to speak first?

Can you hear me?

Hello

All right then. My apologies if there's difficulties in communication. I'm actually phoning into this meeting from San Francisco. I'm overseas on a holiday, and if you want a bit of a laugh, I'm actually in jail at the moment. I'm conducting a tour of Alcatraz Island. So I've just stepped away from my tour group for a moment to field this call. It's not my intention to address you because I have nothing to add. I'm only here to monitor proceedings and to answer questions if need be, and to say that I'm heartened that the application that I've made for modest alterations to my house, it's just an extension, it's only before you because I'm on the council and very properly these matters have been kept at arm's length, and that's all I have to say. Thank you for your time. Thank you. So, Rebecca.

Yes, good morning. Morning. Do you wish to give any explanation? In particular, I'd like to know whether you've read the conditions and you're happy with the conditions. I

Have read the conditions. Now, I have issues with two conditions. So that's condition 11, which requires a new BASIX certificate showing an amendment to the dwelling type. Now, BASIX doesn't give the facility to change the dwelling type for additions. It's just an automatic system that just comes up with the separate dwelling house. So I can't make that change.

And what was your other one?

The other one is condition 16, which requires a... 10,000, 100,000 litre capacity water storage vessel, we're on town water. So there's no, I mean, that condition is generally for rural properties, but it's not a general condition for where we're on town water.

Okay.

I don't know where we'd fit a 100,000 litre tank on the site.

And 100,000 is very big.

Massive.

But they were the only two. Okay.

So what we need to do, I think, is to get the council officers to respond to those questions, if possible.

Yep.

Matthew

Or Stephen? I'm happy to speak on behalf of council. Council doesn't have any objections to the removal of condition 16 regarding the rainwater tank. We can impose , I think the BASIX condition would capture any rainwater tanks required, and I'm happy to change the wording of that BASIX condition just to condition the respective BASIX that's already been submitted.

Okay. So, Rebecca, those are the two issues you had. You were happy with those answers?

Very happy with those answers and very supportive, thank you.

Okay. Do any of the panel members have questions for Rebecca? Pretty?

I have no questions, thank you.

Juliet?

No, I don't have any questions, thank you very much.

Okay. Well, that being the case, we'll adjourn, probably only for a couple of minutes, while we discuss the recommendations and the requests that have been made and the responses from the council officers. And we will then reconvene very shortly and give you and announce what the decision is. So thank you for being with us. Thank you

John. Thank you.

Thank you, Amy. So the panel has considered the application and has made a decision pursuant to Section 4.16( 1)(b) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. The Hawkesbury Local Planning Panel, exercising the function of a consent authority, has granted development consent to DA0302 /23 for alterations and additions to an existing dwelling house at 27 William Cox Drive, Richmond, in accordance with the recommended conditions, subject to the deletion of both conditions 11 and 16. The reasons for the panel's decisions are: one, the proposed development is a permitted use in the R2 Low Density Residential Zone under the Hawkesbury Local Environmental Plan 2012 and is consistent with the zone objectives.

Two, the proposed development is of a scale that protects the character of the traditional residential development, streetscapes and nearby heritage precinct. Three , the proposed development achieves a built form and scale that is consistent with the applicable planning controls for the subject site and surrounds, and for the reasons above, approval of the application is in the public interest. The decision of the panel was unanimous. Thank you everyone for attending.