2018-09-11 Planning & Environment Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                      11 SEPTEMBER 2018


prohibits the premises to be used for ‘the holding of functions, wedding receptions or other uses
which are defined us function rooms, or indoor entertainment, under the provisions of the
Planning Scheme. Similarly the kitchen is not to be used for the commercial production of food’.
A playmaze would fall under the definition of indoor entertainment. Council officers confirmed in
writing to the church that this use is not permitted by the current development approval for the
site and requires a further development approval from Council to operate regardless of whether it
is a charitable arm of the church or a commercial venture. The play centre does not relate to the
conduct of the church with participants attending the play centre separately and unrelated to the
church’s activities of church gatherings, youth groups, bible study classes etc.
The church submitted again in July this year that they believed the playmaze did not require
Council approval as it was a not-for-profit run service. Because of this, and also in response to
the traffic concerns raised by Council officers, the applicant recently advised that they no longer
wished to include the playmaze in their application and formally changed their application to
exclude this use.
2.2. Site Description
The site is the home to the Hope Central Church and is accessed via Marara Street, a largely
unsealed road that formally begins with the Cooroy Library carpark as it intersects with Mary
River Road. Currently, the site has a regular church service on Sundays from 9:30am–1pm,
where up to 70 people may attend. In addition to the church service, a music lesson is held on
Thursday evenings from 7-8pm, with 4 people attending.
The beginning of Marara Road which also provides car parking for the library is sealed. There is
also a short sealed section on the frontage of No. 49 Marara Road, a residential property.
Refer to Figure 3 – First section of Marara Street - Cooroy Library Carpark intersecting with
gravel section of Marara Street.




    Figure 3 – First section of Marara Street - Cooroy Library Carpark intersecting with gravel section of
                                                 Marara Street

The site is located adjacent to the North Coast rail line in a semi-rural area with significant
vegetation areas adjoining to the west and south. More than half of the site has significant
vegetation and a riparian area with a waterway running north/south through the site. Refer
Figure 4 – Aerial photo of subject site.




                                                                                              Page 26 of 95