Old Byron Woolies DA back before public

Paul Bibby

A $57.2 million mixed-use residential and retail development planned for the heart of Byron Bay is back on public exhibition, after the owners decided to modify their plans.

‘The Bohemian,’ a threestorey 7,093 square-metre structure proposed for land adjacent to the old Woolies site has drawn a mixed response from locals so far.

One unimpressed resident described the project, proposed for 90-96 Jonson Street, as ‘Gold Coast lite’, while another said it was ‘a greedy undertaking’.

The Development Application (DA) has already been approved by Council, but has recently been resubmitted with a number of significant modifications and is now on public exhibition. This includes reducing the number of proposed apartments from 54 to 44, and increasing the number of living and private open space areas.

The number of units may have shrunk, but The Bohemian remains a sizeable proposal, including basement car parking for 168 vehicles, ground floor retail and food premises with two levels of two-and three-bedroom apartments above.

More rooftop pools

In keeping with the current trend in Byron Bay, the proposal includes a rooftop club featuring a 25m heating swimming pool, gym, spa and sauna.

The developers have also said there will be an ‘activated laneway’ with food and beverage offerings called Spice Alley.

While a number of public submissions in the original DAs were positive, one resident lamented the further ‘Goldcoastification’ of Byron Bay.

‘If the proponents were serious about reacting to “community needs” they would use this development as an opportunity to address the chronic housing shortage in this town, and not come up with a totally unwanted, unneeded greed-driven appeasement to the wealthy capital city investors,’ they said.

To make a submission, visit www.byron.nsw.gov.au.

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