Best Street residents Gail and Peter Kimpton have had a double garage extension approved at the rear of their heritage-listed property after being forced to wait 16 months for a council decision.
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Councillors voted unanimously to allow the addition of a double garage with attached workshop at Monday evening's council meeting, after the initial proposal was knocked back for not meeting strict planning guidelines applied in the area.
The decision comes after much controversy around the possibility of amending the Development Control Plan (DCP) - a document used by council when assessing development applications.
The DCP enforces strict guidelines on any proposed redevelopment in Central Wagga's heritage conservation area, but council was considering changes that would have relaxed restrictions on "well-designed" rear extensions and secondary dwellings.
The changes could have made it easier for a development such as the one proposed by the Kimptons to pass through council.
However, councillors voted in April to defer a decision on the amendments after significant pushback from residents who fear potential overdevelopment could harm their area's heritage feel.
Any changes to the DCP will now wait until a review of the planning controls is completed as part of council's forthcoming "CBD Masterplan".
The Kimptons' property designer Brad Merrett spoke at last night's meeting on behalf of his clients, where he called on councillors to make an exception to the current guidelines to prevent further delays.
He urged councillors to focus on conserving the visible areas of the property to maintain the heritage streetscape, rather than "little-used" laneways which he said had become a "mish-mash" of structures.
"Why are we waiting?" Mr Merrett said.
"A review could take years and so could waiting for a new DCP to come into effect."
Councillors Paul Funnell and Tim Koschel, spoke at the meeting in support of the Kimptons' proposal, despite having publicly opposed the potential DCP changes in April.
Last night Cr Funnell and Cr Koschel said they supported development applications in the heritage area being reviewed by council on a case-by-case basis, while a decision on the future of the DCP is pending.
"I'm not in favour of the blanket approach but I am in favour of people bringing each one to council for us to have a look at," Cr Koschel said.
"I've got no dramas at all in supporting this... I will be putting my full support behind this one."
Cnr Funnell said while he remains opposed to blanket changes to the DCP, he was "disgusted" the Best Street application had been neglected for so long.
"I have no issue with this report whatsoever, in fact I'm livid it has taken since February last year," Cnr Funnell said.
"These applicants have been hung out to dry for 16 months now and it disgusts me. It's appalling.
"I did oppose the DCP changes because there were concerns of privacy but I ask the specific question: Does that deferral stop anything coming to council off its own merit?"
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