Brisbane City Council has rejected a proposal of more than 100 retirement village units in four new buildings of five or six storeys each at a heritage house in Brisbane's bayside.
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The development application for Oceana Terrace, Lota, was submitted mid last year by Saunders Havill Group on behalf of The Village Retirement Group, which operates the Lota Court retirement community, and Edwin Marsden Tooth Memorial Home at the site.
The property includes the heritage-listed Lota House, an 1860s-era gentry house that is the oldest surviving residence in the Manly-Lota area, according to the Queensland Heritage Register.
The house is also a "rare example" of 1860s Georgian-influenced domestic architecture in Queensland, with the surrounding property forming part of a retirement village that opened in the 1960s.
An additional 39 beds on site were approved by the council in 2016 and are under construction.
According to the development application, the proposal was to construct the four architecturally-designed towers for 103 new units in an integrated retirement home.
But city planning chair Matthew Bourke said the scale of the development wasn't appropriate for the site.
"During the assessment process council raised concerns with the applicant surrounding the building bulk, scale and height, the heritage setting, impacts on existing vegetation and traffic," he said.
"The applicant did not resolve the concerns and Council was not going to allow a development of this kind overshadow the historic Lota House.
"Residents echoed our concerns with 158 of the 159 submissions received regarding the application being in objection."
Cr Bourke acknowledged the increasing need for retirement villages in the city but said it was important to balance that need with appropriate development.
"We are confident our decision to refuse the application will ensure the site at Lota House is maintained as it currently stands and the character of the local area preserved," he said.
