The rehabilitation centre’s accommodation component was described as “classrooms with pillows”. Photo: James Coleman.
A new residential rehabilitation facility has been allowed to provide overnight accommodation, after a Southern Tablelands council backflipped on an initial refusal.
In November 2025, Better Living Solutions had its plans for a new rehabilitation facility approved for a vacant site in Chantry Street, Goulburn.
But Goulburn Mulwaree Council blocked the company from including overnight accommodation under zoning considerations, leading to a request for a review of that decision.
“As the existing use extends only to the use of the site as an education centre, and neither [the development] or the education establishment definition at the time discussed or included overnight accommodation, Council does not consider the overnight accommodation component of the proposal as part of the scope of the approved existing use rights,” the meeting papers state.
Councillor Jason Shepherd backed the request to overturn the accommodation ban.
“The overnight accommodation is part of the lifestyle education — it is part of the education process,” he said,
“It is not an enlargement of the use of the facility, because it is an education facility, and education is around those lifestyle skills.”
A letter written by Better Living Solutions director Khen Huynh and submitted to the council stated the accommodation was considered a key part of the facility.
The letter said the facility — which will also feature allied health services — would teach skills such as routine management, digital literacy, cooking and budgeting.
“The facility will catch participants at the moment they transition out of hospital, corrections, or crisis, give them a structured drug- and alcohol-free environment, and teach them the practical skills they need to hold their own housing and live independently,” it said.
“This is why the facility must operate 24 hours … The overnight stays are not accommodation — they are classrooms with pillows.”
The centre’s accommodation is set to host up to seven participants, as well as one staff member, overnight.
The facility, shown with the purple marker, is set for Chantry Street. Image: Goulburn Mulwaree Council/Screenshot.
Cr Daniel Strickland said overturning the ban would also benefit the town.
“I think if this isn’t approved and goes ahead, that building will remain empty and look far worse than what it does today,” he said.
“I think having life and activity there is going to be great.”
Cr Bob Kirk said the need for more rehabilitative services was separate from the question before the council.
“However, the matter before us is about the permissibility of the accommodation aspect in this zone, which is clearly not permissible.
“I support the staff’s recommendation — which is based on the planning rules that we, on behalf of the community, have established and should be following.”
A staff member told councillors there was “some grey” around the accommodation element of the project.
He pointed to the recommendation in the papers that the request be refused.
“Council can make that call [to allow it] and are entitled to have a different viewpoint to the assessing officer,” he said.
“In terms of where my team has landed, we’ve looked at not only this proposal but how we’ve applied the existing use right legislation in years gone by.”
He said he couldn’t confirm reports of unauthorised works at the site before the development application (DA) was lodged.
During the discussion, Cr Caitlin Flint warned that overturning the ban risked giving “special treatment to one developer” over other projects.
“I know there is such a need for this … but they need to follow the same rules that we expect, and the frameworks that we need to uphold, as we expect of any other developer.”
Crs Flint and Kirk were the only ones to vote against the successful motion, which overturned the accommodation ban (subject to fire safety upgrades).
