Casey development proposal with 219 apartments revised after being refused by planning authority

A scaled-back version has now been submitted for approval, with adjustments to the number of storeys and apartments.

KG Capitol and Jega, the teams behind the adjacent Casey Market Town shopping centre, are developing the site overlooking Casey pond.

The group submitted a development application in February proposing one nine-storey and two 11-storey buildings, including two ground levels of adaptable commercial units, positioned above two basement levels with more than 350 car spaces.

The Planning and Land Authority refused the application in May saying it did not demonstrate a development "consistent with the desired character of the area".

In its notice of decision, the planning authority said given the number of storeys proposed "far exceeds" the number outlined in rule 45 of the commercial zones development code, the proposal was subject to criteria 45.

"The proposed increase in storeys is not considered consistent with the desired character of the locality," it stated.

Parking was also a problem, with the authority stating the development required 451 car spaces to comply with the relevant code, but only 362 were provided.

The developer had previously said visitor car parking would be provided in the adjoining commercial car park, also owned by KG Capitol and Jega, but the planning authority did not support this.

"While the authority notes this site has to (sic) capacity to service some of the parking requirements of the development, however the reliance on 87 spaces is not supported," the notice of decision stated.

It also found the development proposal did not provide "reasonable provisions for short-stay parking to service delivery and removalist trucks associated with the residential aspect of the development".

The authority also stated the proposal did not achieve the setbacks as required by the multi-unit housing development code.

"Additionally, the development as a whole lacks amenity in regard to landscaping, this shortfall largely occurs due to the lack of planting/opportunity for planting provided within the developments setbacks."

The developers have submitted revised plans for approval, which are open to public feedback until September 29.

Two storeys have been removed and the number of apartments has been reduced to 170. The number of car parks will remain the same.

Kip Tanner, environmental engineer and planner at Planit Strategic, which developed the proposal, said the local community had raised concerns with the size of the project.

"The response we got from the community was it was too tall and there was too much development on the site," he said.

The plans were also amended to show the ground-floor units would not be used for residential purposes.

"We've tweaked it a little bit to just make it really clear that those ground floor spaces can be used for various commercial purposes," Mr Tanner said.

He envisaged small offices or consulting businesses to occupy the ground-floor units facing Casey Pond, with other commercial shops to face out towards the car park.

Despite a reduction in size, the development was still going to be a "fairly big change" for Casey, Mr Tanner said.

But he said the suburb was always designed as a large group centre, which provides services to multiple other suburbs.

"It's designed around having three supermarkets there," he said.

"The scale of Casey was always intended to be quite substantial."

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