Hundreds of residents came out on Save Thirroul Village Day, 25 July to show the Land and Environment Court Commissioner the strong sense of place and community that northern suburbs residents have for Thirroul.

Despite it being a Monday morning in the dead of winter, it was uplifting to see so many people willing to demonstrate their support for a better outcome for the Plaza site as the Commissioner and parties of the Court – Thirroul Plaza Pty Ltd and Wollongong City Council – came to undertake an inspection of the area.

Community members, some wearing Save Thirroul Village shirts, lined Lawrence Hargrave Drive and King St, sipped coffee at cafes and flooded the Plaza car park, all to show how vibrant Thirroul is, and that the proposal to remove most of the street parking in the main street will be detrimental to the success of the village.

Businesses wore banners on their facades, children took leave from school, shops placed “No to the Plaza DA” posters in their windows, and a sea of the “silent protest” signs were once again erected in WF Jackson park – all part of a peaceful protest to show the commissioner the community’s opposition to the Plaza proposal.

The site visit was the first day of the four-day Court hearing to determine the Thirroul Plaza proposal to erect 77 units, a larger Coles, three-level car park, and traffic lights with removal of street parking. The hearing was webcast, and saw some community members, business people and shop owners addressing the Court to state their opposition, covering issues of concern such as the economic impact of the removal of street parking, traffic congestion, loss of escarpment views and potential impact on live music and evening activities in the town centre.

Then followed days of various planning experts being cross-examined regarding the proposal – the Plaza’s experts advocating their position, and the Council’s experts defending their opposition.

So where to from here? There is no legal timeframe for when a Commissioner must hand down a judgement. It can depend on their workload, and how long the judgement is. This one is expected to be lengthy given the number of issues, and it could take up to six months.

The outcome will either be an approval or a refusal. An approval will likely come with conditions, but they cannot be anything that is significantly different to the original proposal (e.g., floorspace of the Coles, number of units, etc).

Appeals in both cases (regarding either an approval or a refusal) can only be made if there is an error of law. That is, if there was a mistake made during the hearing or some information was wrong. This is called a “56A Appeal”. If a 56A Appeal proceeds, it is the case that it often goes back to the original decision being re-made. The Minister for Planning has no authority to make any determination in relation to the application.

We can only hope that the OUTSTANDING turnout on Save Thirroul Village Day made a significant impression on the Commissioner (how could it not?!) and that this proposal is refused.

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