A proposal to modify a decade-old redevelopment approval and construct a $100 million hotel on the former Salamander Shores site in Soldiers Point has split the community.
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The owners of the Bannisters hotel on Soldiers Point Road have applied to the Department of Planning for a modification to the mixed use residential and tourist development, which was approved in 2011.
The hotel's general manager Peter Bacon described the modifications as being "minor".
"They will remove the serviced apartments; increase the number of hotel rooms by six and residential apartments by 24; reconfigure and increase car parking by 35; and increase the height by 600mm. The total gross floor area remains the same," he said.
Residents opposed to the modifications, which requires a complete and demolition and rebuild, have raised concerns about traffic, noise and environmental issues.
They also requested, and received, an extension to the exhibition period.
A final decision rests with the state government and a planning department spokesperson told the Examiner that the exhibition period had been extended till January 21, 2022 "to give the community more time to share their views on the project".
"Once the exhibition closes, the applicant will need to respond to all submissions received before we undertake a rigorous assessment and make a decision on the project."
On the subject of increased traffic along Soldiers Point Road, the council's assets manager John Maretich, said that council roads were inspected for condition and risk mitigation.
"If we find that the road has degraded through wear and tear, then the road will be maintained through council's normal maintenance and rehabilitation funding priorities. Should the road fail suddenly and we can attribute to the failure to overmass heavy vehicles, this may provide us an opportunity to seek some form of compensation from the developer."
Mr Bacon said that the newly proposed Bannisters would feature 90 hotel rooms and 98 apartments and would create 40-50 new jobs, plus approximately 250 in the construction phase.
"We want to create a state-of-the-art building and provide an iconic tourist attraction that would be a drawcard to the region," he said.
"We have heard some of the concerns from residents and have addressed them. There will be no removal of trees between the site and the bay, there will be no rock blasting and to ease traffic congestion around the property we have included an extra 35 car parking spaces."
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He has also agreed to meet with residents in a private setting to discuss the modification.
Community spokesperson Cherylle Stone said that, ideally, the meeting should take place prior to Christmas to allow residents time to review the documents and send its response prior to the January 21 deadline.
She said that the majority of residents - old and new - had no idea of the existence of the major development approval which dates back to 2011.
"I have been a resident of Soldiers Point for 30 years, keep an ear out for proposed development and had no inkling back in 2011 or again in 2016 that such a large project was being proposed due to the lack of advertising," she said.
"We would like to discuss how the noise, traffic management and parking issues will be addressed during demolition, construction and operations phases, explain the implications of a change of use and significant height increase over the current building and, in the face of climate change, justify the removal and waste of huge quantities of materials to landfill."
EcoNetwork Port Stephens says it has two major concerns with the modification.
"We believe there is a lack of an up-to-date traffic study. A current traffic study is needed in the Soldiers Point area as those used for recent developments have been eight years old," the network stated.
"Residents along Soldiers Point Rd as well as all residents in the area are well aware of the narrow road leading to the roundabout at Salamander Bay where it joins Port Stephens Drive and Salamander Way.
"Being a peninsula, there is only one road in and one road out and this will be greatly impacted by the estimated 200 more vehicles allowed for in the residential development alone, not allowing for the included restaurants and normal pub and club traffic in the area," spokesperson Kathy Brown said.
"Our second concern is the truck movements through the demolition and building stage along with the noise and pollution impact. These trucks will be negotiating the same narrow road."
In response to residents claims they have been seeking a pedestrian crossing for some years, Mr Maretich said the council did not have the delegation to install pedestrian crossings "as they are approved by Transport for NSW".
"Residents can make an application through the council's Local Traffic Committee to have the need for a pedestrian crossing investigated."
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