Councillors Ned Attie, Eddy Sarkis and Tom Zreika filed the rescission motion but their arguments didn’t sway the majority of their fellow councillors.
Describing the vote as a “slap in the face to our most important community members”, Cr Attie said the majority of duplexes were built by mums and dads.
“You have denied the majority our most important residents the right to build a second home on their property while now allowing property developers to swoop in and build boarding homes and manor homes on the same blocks,” he said.
Cr Sarkis also slammed the decision as “ripping the soul out of mums and dads”.
“The average sized block in the local government area is way below 600sqm and it means the average family won’t be able build a duplex for their kids’ futures,” he said.
“They argued that they want to stop developers but developers are building a bit more than duplexes.”
However Cr Lisa Lake said the decision to create a consistent minimum lot size across the local government area (LGA) was in response to the release of the NSW Government’s ‘Low Rise Medium Density Housing Code’ which set a 400sqm minimum lot size for dual occupancy.
“The concern was that 400sqm would create a negative impact in our lower density areas and place too much pressure on our already overstretched infrastructure,” she said.
Cr George Campbell also argued that councillors were “not elected to guarantee profits from real estate investment”.
He added that most people invested in a home as a place to live which included the amenity of their street and neighbourhood.
Reverse dual occupancy lot size bid lost
A MOVE to reverse the decision to set 600sqm as the minimum lot size for dual occupancies, failed at Wednesday’s council meeting.
