Pambula's Royal Willows Hotel approved for demolition and replacement with supermarket

The decision, approved just days before Christmas, removes an uncomfortable situation for Bega Valley Shire Council which had always approved of the hotel's demolition and replacement with a supermarket but was facing legal action by the hotel's owners.

The decision was made by the SRPP on Thursday, December 22, 2022 the same day that council said it had completed its report to the organisation.

Mayor Russell Fitizpatrick said council was not informed of the approval and only learnt when the SRPP website changed at 3.30pm on Friday, December 23.

Council has made changes to the DA's status on its DA tracker but does not intend to publicly re-exhibit the plans. It was supported in its decision by the Southern Region Planning Panel.

"The panel supports council's decision not to re-notify the amended plans, consistent with the discretionary provisions of Council's Community Participation Plan, noting that the amended plans improve design outcomes, reduce the overall impacts of the development and have been informed by concerns raised by submitters including at two public meetings as well as independent, external, expert architectural advice," the panel said in its report.

There had been community opposition to the DA and two public meetings with the SRPP, the last of which was in September 2022. Following this meeting the decision to approve was deferred pending further information in response to questions from the SRPP.

Community members were concerned about the demolition of a historic building in a precinct that was valued for its history.

The panel engaged Stephen Davies to provide independent heritage advice and he provided a report to the panel November 10, 2022.

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"In response to the report prepared by Mr Davies, the applicant provided an amended design and updated Heritage Impact Statement (HIS)," the SRPP said.

The revised HIS prepared by Philip Leeson Architects for the owners of the Royal Willows, Jeanette and Kel Stolzenheim, said two different types of chimneys were evident in historic photographs of the hotel (including those from the 1880s) suggesting that part of the 1864 cottage was retained with new additions constructed during the 1880s when the site became a hotel.

The HIS concluded that there was limited early fabric remaining and that the building had low integrity, and having been "altered and extended on many occasions over 120 years", it fell well short of meeting contemporary codes.

Demolition of the Royal Willows Hotel was considered appropriate subject to the appropriate design of the replacement building.

The panel concluded that, subject to the amended conditions, the development would not result in unacceptable adverse impacts upon the natural or built environments and was a suitable use of the site and therefore approval was "in the public interest".

In terms of the proposed design, Mr Davies said he was satisfied that the front section of the proposal met the required conservation objectives, however, he raised concerns in relation to the design of the southern supermarket wall and its external landscaped areas (green wall) and suggested its replacement with a sympathetic screen to break down the volume of the southern wall in a sympathetic material such as vertical timber louvres, the SRPP said.

The panel said it was satisfied a thorough assessment of the proposal had been undertaken and the demolition of the existing building was "appropriately justified" and the design of the new building was of "an appropriate scale and form for the site and the character of the locality".

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The SRPP imposed a number of conditions specifically for traffic management stating all delivery vehicles for the supermarket should enter and exit the site via Merimbola Street and all delivery vehicles for the bottle shop should enter via Merimbola Street and exit via Quondolo Street. The maximum length vehicle permitted to service the bottle shop is 12.5m. The maximum length vehicle permitted to enter the site to service the supermarket is 20m articulated.

Of the total number of car parking spaces provided, four are to be disabled car parking spaces, six designated as seniors car parking spaces and four designated for parents with prams.

Building colours and materials are to be consistent with Mr Davies' heritage report and should be submitted to and approved by council's heritage advisor. The proposed green wall (southern elevation) to be replaced with an alternative vertical timber screened louvre device of similar dimensions to the proposed green wall.

No lighting is to be directed towards Panboola and the Merimbola St pavement and road, including the intersection into the supermarket, is to be re-constructed for a total length of 60m, 20m north and south of the lot boundaries, for the full width of the road formation with asphaltic concrete.

A contamination report and audit statement covering the removal of underground fuel tanks has to be prepared by a suitably qualified consultant.

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