Centacare Evolve Housing denies its newly-approved three-storey social housing block at New Town lacks sufficient parking.
The Sunnyside Road development, which will see derelict tennis courts and a clubhouse demolished, is a done deal after Hobart City Council’s planning committee voted it through on Wednesday.
31 neighbours of the 22-unit proposal have raised objections including loss of privacy, overshadowing and concerns that there’ll only be 12 car parking spots.
But Centacare CEO Ben Wilson told the meeting they’ve done their research.
“We believe what has been provided is sufficient to accommodate the complex we’re proposing,” he said.
“We also have bike parking and motorcycle parking.”
But one neighbour told the meeting parking in the area is already a nightmare.
“I know people who park on Sunnyside Road to catch the bus into town, they come in from outlying suburbs,” she said.
“I have an internal block so I have great difficulty with visibility up and down the street because of the car parks that are blocking visual.”
Councillors Louise Elliott and John Kelly were the only negative votes.
“Just because a development is for social housing, that standards shouldn’t drop so low that they impact the experience for residents and neighbours,” Cr. Elliott wrote on social media.
“The double standards trouble me – a private developer would likely have been laughed at if they came forward with this application.”
Councillor Bill Harvey moved the motion to approve.
“I think it’s quite a reasonable development in a terrific spot, 250 metres away from the bus stops,” he said.
“Evidence suggests that they’re mostly single-occupant units, so we’re probably looking at something around the order of 30 people living on site, not 50 as was suggested.”
