APPLAUSE erupted through the Orange City Council chamber on Tuesday as East Orange residents won a victory against a controversial boarding house proposal.
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Councillors supported the staff recommendation to refuse the three two-storey boarding houses, each containing eight rooms and a common area, saying the building layout, design and minimal landscaping made the application unsuitable.
Eight of the 31 objectors spoke at Tuesday night’s meeting, concerned about noise from 24 vehicles and air conditioners and the scale of the development in an area dominated by single-storey homes.
Former councillor and Bowen resident Ron Gander pointed out NSW Police had rated the overall crime risk as high and believed it would become “three little barns full of ratbags”.
“On many other counts, this type of accommodation has been used for people who have been released from jail or psychiatric hospitals,” he said.
“It’s going to be a wart on the end of our nose.”
Orange Health Service specialist Ruth Arnold argued the boarding house policy was designed for affordable housing, not health professionals.
“Pitching this at a higher rental market, is that really stepping around the usual planning vehicles?” she said.
Developer Greg Kings said Orange Health Service had already been consulted about the need for accommodation for single travelling professionals.
“We know that it’s needed because there’s homes in this city being rented by the room by nursing staff – they’re sharing houses and paying $220-270 a bedroom,” he said.
“This gives them a complete facility of their own, fully self-contained.”
Mr Kings said it also provided an option for older women who were widowed or divorced, as well as rooms for people with disabilities.
“Everyone’s [saying] there’s going to be druggos and bikies and unemployed people living in these buildings, it just astounds me – I thought the people of Orange are a people who are warm and welcoming.”
He said his team included a state government town planner who co-wrote the policy and “second to none” acoustic experts, and the site was not located in a heritage conservation area.
“We’ve been sympathetic with our designs,” he said.
“To call this illegal development is insulting.”
Councillors Russell Turner and Scott Munro expressed sympathy for Mr Kings.
“There was a lot of fear of the unknown from the audience and some unfair allegations if I might put it that way,” Cr Turner said.
However, councillors agreed it was located in the wrong place.
Councillor Stephen Nugent said it failed to meet the council’s standards on appearance, bulk, street views, neighbourhood character, open space and security.
“I think we could imagine a development there with maybe a number of one and two-bedroom semi-detached units of single storey and I wonder if we would have the same reaction if that was the proposal,” he said.
Deputy mayor Joanne McRae agreed there was a critical need for affordable and diverse housing but the development did not meet solar access requirements, which she considered a deal-breaker.
“In Sydney, when you’ve got double-digit temperatures in the middle of winter, you can still go outside and get some sunshine, but in Orange, the winter solar access when perhaps there’s a top temperature of two or three degrees is very critical.”