The Development Application is for the use of part of an existing dwelling for the purposes of health consulting rooms, and associated business identification signage. The remainder of the dwelling will be used for residential purposes.
One doctor will be operating out of the health consulting room. No support staff are proposed. A total of three car parking spaces will be provided for the health consulting rooms in the proposed car park at the rear of the dwelling.
The proposed hours of operation are as follows:
• Monday to Saturday – 8:00am to 4:00pm
Business identification signage is proposed to be affixed to the secondary street fencing, with dimensions of 1.1m x 1.5m and a total area of 1.65m2.
ISSUES FOR CONSIDERATION 1. Compliance with LEP 2019 a) Permissibility
The land is zoned R2 Low Density Residential under LEP 2019. The proposed development is best defined as health consulting rooms as follows:
health consulting rooms means premises comprising one or more rooms within (or within the curtilage of) a dwelling house used by not more than 3 health care professionals at any one time.
Health consulting rooms are permissible in the R2 Low Density Residential zone. The applicant has confirmed that the health consulting room will be operated by a health care professional, meeting the definition as per the LEP. The proposal complies with LEP 2019.
b) Zone Objectives
The objectives of the zone are:
• To provide for the housing needs of the community within a low density residential environment.
• To enable other land uses that provide facilities or services to meet the day to day needs of residents.
• To maintain the existing low density residential character of the area.
The proposal is considered to be consistent with the stated objectives of the zone, in that the proposal will enable a land use to provide services to meet the day to day needs of residents, and the proposal maintains the existing low density residential character of the area.
2. Compliance with DCP 2012
The proposal has been assessed against the following provisions of DCP 2012
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• DCP Part B Section 2 – Residential
• DCP Part C Section 1 – Parking
• DCP Part C Section 2 – Signage
• DCP Part C Section 3 – Landscaping
• DCP Part D Section 7 – Balmoral Road Release Area
The proposed development achieves compliance with the relevant requirements of the above Development Controls with the exception of the following:
DEVELOPMENT
CONTROL DCP
REQUIREMENTS PROPOSED
DEVELOPMENT COMPLIANCE Private Open Space 20% (145.88m2) of the
lot area shall be provided for private open space.
A total of 15% of the lot (111m2) is
provided for the purposes of private open space
No, however the proposal provides a useable amount of private open space for residents of the dwelling.
Landscaping 40% (291.76m²) of the lot shall be landscaped area.
A total of 39.2%
(286.25m²) of the site is landscaped area.
No, however the proposal provides for a high quality landscaped outcome and the variation to the total landscaped area is negligible.
a) Private Open Space
DCP Part B Section 2 – Residential requires that 20% (145.88m2) of the lot area be provided for private open space. The development provides approximately 111m2 of private open space, falling short of the required POS area. The applicant has provided the following justification in support of the variation:
This development achieves 111m² which is 15.30% resulting in a shortfall of 34m² or 4.7%
for POS on the site. Overall, formal landscaping is proposed with a private open space for the dwelling at the front and rear of the existing dwelling. The private open space area contains a rectangle measuring 6 metres by 4 metres which complies with Council’s requirements. The proposed POS is screened with hedges and fencing to ensure privacy. It is however believed that compliance with the development control is unreasonable or unnecessary in the circumstances of the case as the proposed landscaping is across the whole site and each elevation would achieve a balanced amount of open space.
Unfortunately, in this instance the dwelling is existing which restricts open space to be created whilst maintaining car parking requirements. It is believed that the proposed development would be in the public interest as it would provide valuable medical service to the local community. There would be no impacts to residential amenity or adverse environmental impacts arising from the proposal. There would be sufficient landscaping across the site to maintain residential amenity.
Comment:
The relevant objectives of this clause of the DCP are:
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• To provide for a private outdoor living space, as an extension of the dwelling, for the enjoyment of residents.
• To provide outdoor living spaces which receive a reasonable quantity of sunshine during all months of the year.
The variation to the private open space area is considered acceptable as the development maintains consistency with the objectives of the control. The proposal provides two separate private open space areas, with both being accessible off living areas. The private open spaces areas to the north-east of the site will maintain compliant levels of solar access, and the private open space area to the south-west of the dwelling will receive solar access in the afternoon. Despite the numerical shortfall, the proposal provides acceptable private open spaces areas for the use of residents of the dwelling. A variation is considered acceptable in this instance.
b) Landscaping
DCP Part B Section 2 – Residential requires that 40% (291.76m²) of the lot area be landscaped area. The development provides 39.2% or 286.25m² of overall landscaped area, a shortfall of 0.8% or 5.51m² of the required landscaped area for the site. The applicant has provided the following justification in support of the variation:
In the scheme of the overall design, it is believed that the proposed development achieves landscaping objectives across the whole site with 286.25m² being open space which is almost 40% of green space.
Comment:
The relevant objectives of this clause of the DCP are:
• To enhance the quality of the built environment by providing a high standard of landscaping.
• To design a high quality landscape setting for urban housing development.
• To fully integrate the landscape design in communal, private and public areas as a necessary element in any well designed residential project.
• To enhance the quality of the built environment by providing opportunities for landscaping.
The variation to the landscaped area is considered acceptable as the development maintains consistency with the objectives of the control. The development is provided with a high quality landscaped outcome which provides for a variety of plant species including, 18 Sweet Viburnums, 14 Dwarf Weeping Lillypillys, 15 Japanese Pittosporum, 1 Pink Magnolia, 2 Tuckeroo trees, 2 Old Man Banksias and 1 Water Gum, in addition to various ground covers and shrubs. The landscape plan provided with the application includes a total of 10 trees with mature heights ranging from 3 metres to 8 metres. Overall, the landscaped outcome for the site will enhance the visual and landscaped setting of the area. Furthermore, the shortfall in landscape area is negligible being 0.8% for the site, and the high quality landscaping proposed for the site will balance out the minor variation to this control which will not be a discernible non-compliance with the development.
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