The revised Vikings development, without the outdoor dining and viewing platform by the pond. Image: Benson McCormack.
Vikings has dropped Stage 2 of its proposed club development in Jerrabomberra and made other changes as part of its appeal against the rejection of its development application, but affected residents say it is still in the wrong place.
The NSW Southern Regional Planning Panel knocked back the $36 million proposal with 150 poker machines for the Poplars Precinct last July, noting unacceptable social impacts and that the net benefits of the club to the community did not outweigh the anticipated harm.
But Vikings appealed to the NSW Land and Environment Court and has now scaled back the project in a bid to make it acceptable.
According to a summary of the changes provided to the Jerrabomberra Residents Association, Stage 2 would have added a level to the initial building to provide two function rooms, a bar, amenities, an alfresco dining area near the pond including a bar and viewing platform, and extended the western carpark, increasing its capacity from 153 to 272 spaces.
The proposed development’s maximum capacity has been reduced from 1320 to 800 patrons.
The setback of the 1.8-metre high acoustic wall to contain noise has been increased from 1 metre to 3 metres, and a landscaped berm has been added to a height of 900 mm in front of the acoustic wall.
Operation hours have also changed. The café and bistro will close at 10 pm, outdoor areas will close at 9 pm on Sunday to Thursday, and 10 pm on Friday and Saturday, and function rooms will close at 12 am. Operations, including the service of alcohol, will cease at 1 am, with patrons permitted to remain on the premises until 2 am.
Jerrabomberra Residents Association president Margot Sachse said the association was yet to digest all the documents, but her initial response was that not much had changed from its original position that the proposal was still in the wrong location, too big, traded too late and had too many poker machines.
“It’s still in the wrong location, because the neighbours have still got an acoustic wall to look at, it still trades till 2 am, and the poker machine footprint hasn’t changed at all,” she said.
Ms Sachse said there needed to be consistent closing times for all venues in the area, noting the Jerrabomberra Hotel closes its doors at 1 am.
She said the association had only been notified of the amended development application last week, the documents failed to include a list of the changes and the window to comment was too small.
The Queanbeyan and Palerang Council’s lawyers had only provided the summary of changes on Monday, on instructions from council in response to several association questions.
The amended DA is part of the court proceedings, to which the association is not a party, and Vikings is not required to consult the community, nor is a new DA required.
Ms Sachse said the association had requested more time to assess the documents but the lawyers confirmed that the 30 July deadline could not be changed.
“So we’ve been basically given a whole pile of large files to get our heads around and make a comment in a week,” she said.
The process had always been very challenging for the association to negotiate and the latest court proceedings had not made it any easier.
Vikings CEO Anthony Hill said he could not comment at present.
“We’ll allow the legal process to run its course before making any further statement,” he said.
Original Article published by Ian Bushnell on Region Canberra.
