Merimbula's $40m, 86 unit, seniors housing development given green light

The original development application sought consent for a seniors housing development comprising a five-storey building with 77 independent living units and a four-storey building with 12 independent living units, along with administrative, communal and recreational facilities, parking and landscape works.

In the first public exhibition at the end of 2022, 55 submissions were received by BVSC including concerns for excessive building height, bulk and scale along with associated impacts on outlook, access to natural light and views, inconsistency with the existing streetscape, traffic congestion, amongst other concerns.

The DA was publicly exhibited on two more occasions, before going before the NSW Land and Environment Court, where a modified version was finally approved.

On April 16, LEC Acting Commissioner Matthew Pullinger said the parties had reached an agreement and consent was granted for the development and associated works at 83 Lakewood Drive in Merimbula.

Court gave development consent to an amended DA, subject to conditions, with adjustments made to resolve contentions initially raised by Bega Valley Shire Council.

Amendments were made to improve the development's relationship to the site, to its topography, and to its relationship with neighbouring properties, while the communal and recreational facilities have been reconfigured to reduce potential acoustic impacts.

The site was identified within the relevant Bega Valley Local Environmental Plan (BVLEP) Height of Buildings Map as benefiting from a 10m maximum height of building development standard, and State Environmental Planning Policy worked alongside to provide an additional 3.8 metres under certain conditions.

These conditions included the proposed seniors living development be situated within a land use zone where residential apartment development was permissible, the site area was greater than 1,500sqm, and where 15 per cent additional floor space was used only for the purposes of independent living units.

Part of the amended DA exceeded this development standard with heights of 16.86m, and a written request had been made, which Acting Commissioner Matthew Pullinger said he was satisfied with.

It stated the increase was a result of the site's typography, and would "not give rise to additional adverse visual impacts, overshadowing, disruption to views or loss of privacy to neighbouring properties.

To read more about the Court's judgement, click here