Meander Valley mayor Craig Perkins has refused to be drawn into community speculation surrounding the latest proposal for Beefeater Street, saying “the council can only accept what is put in front of them”.
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A development application for seven new dwellings at 46a Beefeater Street, Deloraine, was refused at Tuesday’s Meander Valley Council meeting, after a recommendation from council officers highlighted potential traffic issues.
The announcement of the proposal provoked a strong reaction from the community when it was first tabled, with concerns raised about who would occupy the “rental accomodation”.
A series of submissions to council last December referenced land owner Andrew Terry’s previous application for “visitor accomodation” at the same location, which was also refused.
While Cr Perkins wouldn’t comment on Councillor Andrew Connor’s assessment that some of the arguments were “bordering on xenophobia”, he was philosophical about the nature of the submissions.
“People who live in the vicinity of this proposal obviously have their own concerns about what could happen in the area, and the great thing about the planning system is that they have the opportunity to raise them,” he said.
“It was made clear that the dwellings for this proposal were going to be put to a different use, so council has to take that into consideration.”
The proposal’s inclusion in Tuesday’s agenda marked the second time the address had been discussed at a Meander Valley Council meeting in the space of nine months.
Cr Perkins said it was up to Mr Terry as to whether the proposal had seen its true end.
“The ball is in his court now,” he said.
“From a planning perspective, there are traffic issues, but he might decide to appeal the ruling, which would lead to a review.”
The minutes of Tuesday’s Meander Valley Council meeting are available at https://www.meander.tas.gov.au.