The owner of a prime piece of Dubbo real estate and the company that wants to develop it are at loggerheads.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
BAWD Property Trust allowed Patricia Kosseris’s company, Penrith Mega Homebase, to lodge a $40 million development application (DA) for its CBD holding.
But BAWD’s support collapsed after it discovered details of the proposed shopping and accommodation complex.
The trust considered the present plans for Riviera Shopping Centre would render another of its properties “land-locked” and less valuable.
It has threatened to take the developer to court if it proceeds.
BAWD managing director Brett Anderson vowed to defend its property rights vigorously.
Penrith Mega Homebase lodged a DA with Dubbo City Council to build on a vast parcel of land on Macquarie, Bultje, Bligh and Cobra streets in April, some of which is owned by BAWD.
The council put the proposed development on public exhibition in May and notified adjoining owners of it.
It was then that BAWD discovered a number of issues that were of concern to it, the most serious of which related to a right of carriageway to Poplars Lane.
Mr Anderson made a submission dated June 27 that opposed the development touted by a Penrith Mega Homebase spokesman as a saviour of the CBD.
Mr Anderson claimed the development would prevent physical access to BAWD-owned land dubbed Lot 23, which is not part of the Riviera plans, and also prevent the use of it for the purposes of parking.
“Lot 23 would be landlocked, and its amenity and value significantly diminished,” he wrote in his submission.
The managing director reported to the council that he had told the proponent that BAWD did not consent to the development in its present form.
“The development in its present form infringes these, and must not proceed,” he wrote in the submission.
“BAWD will seek an injunction and costs if the development is approved or attempted to be approved in its current form.”
The Western Joint Regional Planning Panel (JRPP) will have the final say on the proposal because it has a capital investment of more than $20 million.
Dubbo City Council staff recommended submitting the DA to the JRPP for determination subject to more than 120 conditions of consent attached to its report.
One of those is a deferred commencement condition with the reason given to “ensure the development does not unreasonably restrict access to Poplars Lane”.
The recommendation will come before the council today.
Mrs Kosseris is the wife of John Kosseris, who unsuccessfully attempted to redevelop the former Dubbo RAAF base as head of SPV2, before it went into receivership.