Council refuses approval of controversial North Tamworth development

Wednesday morning was especially bright for residents of Gorman Street as they awoke to news that their long-held fears about a controversial development were heard by council.

In a narrow five-four vote, Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) refused to grant approval to a development application (DA) for a centre-based childcare facility on 7-9 Gorman Street at their Tuesday night meeting, citing concerns of insufficient traffic modelling and issues of public interest in regard to safety.

"It is a good development, but it's in the wrong spot. The road is too tight and at the end of the day we have to really look at safety," Cr Brooke Southwell said.

But it may be too soon for residents to celebrate, as it now falls to the project's proponent to make the next move.

"There's a couple of avenues open to any developer when there's a refusal on the table. They can ask for a review of the determination and we would typically engage an independent body to do that review. The second option is to take it to the Land and Environment court and have them determine it," TRC general manager Paul Bennett said at a media briefing the morning after councillors had handed down their decision.

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The key concern for many residents and councillors is the potential for a bottleneck from increased traffic on the eight-metre-wide road.

They say it poses a risk to the health and safety of the area's higher-than-average population of people on palliative care, who may need an ambulance to come through on short notice.

Three Gorman Street residents made their case to councillors at their latest meeting, saying the traffic impacts during peak hours would be felt on Piper Street and Johnston Street as well.

"With all those roads blocked up, we've got palliative care residents in that area who can't get help from ambulance, fire department, or anything else," Gorman Street resident Tulsa Heard said.

Mr Heard's neighbour Amanda Rooney, who lives next door to the site of the proposed centre, told councillors the DA "is more about what you're taking away from the community than what you're giving to it," and asked councillors to "please put down the paperwork and visit Gorman Street."

Cr Judy Coates later said visiting Gorman Street is exactly what convinced her to vote no.

"I'm not against childcare centres in residential areas, I just think that this particular street doesn't suit this particular development," she said.

That idea of 'right development, wrong location' was echoed by every councillor who voted against the project's approval, including Crs Brooke Southwell, Mark Rodda, Marc Sutherland and Steve Mears.

Before the vote, mayor Russell Webb said if the DA was refused, there would be a "high chance" that the development will go to court as it "actually complies with all of the rules and regulations."

"If councillors are of a mind to reject the recommendation on the basis of traffic that's fine, but you need to understand there will more than likely be an appeal, and since this is a development that actually complies, we'll most likely lose," Cr Webb said.

The mayor said the decision has the potential to put council in the legal line of fire, and if it goes to court TRC will need to hire outside experts to support its decision, since the professional recommendation from staff was to approve the DA.

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