Councillors considered the recommended refusal on Thursday, where staff had raised concerns about stormwater inundating two units’ backyards and heritage non-compliance. 

But planning committee chairman and councillor Russell Turner instead moved for a notice of approval to be prepared and for staff to discuss the concerns raised with the applicant in an effort to resolve them.

He did not speak to the motion.

However, councillors amended it to a deferral.

Councillor Glenn Taylor questioned whether there would be any incentive to improve the plans.

“Moving an instrument of approval to come back to council is in effect saying we are going to approve it and all you’ve effectively done is to say we’re going to discuss some of the concerns,” he said. 

“There probably needs to be a lot of changes.”

Councillor Stephen Nugent said he preferred rejection because the proposal was contrary to the council’s heritage guidelines.

“If we’re going to stuff up this part of the heritage precinct we may as well take the infill guidelines and rip them up,” he said. 

Deputy mayor Joanne McRae echoed the sentiment, saying staff time should be spent wisely and there needed to be incentive for developers to get things right “first go”.

“If we continue to give our very keen developers multiple bites of the cherry ... we’re actually making a rod for our own back,” she said. 

Scott Gilbank, who owns the heritage-listed Mena property across the road, told councillors on Thursday the development was “an unsympathetic bastardisation to one of Orange’s most recognised heritage fill streets” and said after the meeting staff’s reasons for refusal were the best he had seen.

“They covered everything,” he said. 

“I was actually in shock to see the speed that the chair wanted to overturn that refusal for an approval based on those special conditions, which once given the stamp, are very hard to reverse.”

However, he believed the move would only delay the firing squad. 

“It’s the same message which has been given by the planning staff over the last 24 months on that development,” he said.

Mr Gilbank said the number of homes should be cut to eight with a more sympathetic design.