Council considers Headlands Hotel site
Wollongong Council will tonight consider whether to amend the planning guidelines for the site of the Headlands Hotel in Austinmer.
The iconic pub was placed in the hands of receivers last year and then forced to shut its doors due to safety concerns.
Receivers have struggled to sell the prime real estate and are now considering how to proceed with the sale after a deal worth more than five million dollars fell over earlier this year.
Council staff have recommended councillors adopt some changes to the current development controls, including maintaining the footprint of the existing hotel and mandating certain design standards.
Austinmer resident Ross Arundell has been campaigning for the appropriate development of the hotel and says he's pleased with the new planning controls that will be presented at tonight's council meeting.
"The fact that they've come out with a conclusion that deals with all of the aspects that the local residents were worried about and are worried about that the options that they've come up with seem quite valid and able to be followed through with, " said Mr Arundell.
Ross Arundell says the Headlands Hotel used to be a place for people to show off their cars and motorbikes. He remembers one time years ago when 600 motorcycles were parked in the car park.
The Headlands Fishing Club has also been without a home since the pub shut.
Ross Arundell says he knows some people would like the site to be public park land but locals and tourists need a place to go.
He says the ideal outcome would be if council bought the land in partnership with a developer.
"The cost of buying the land and then developing it is so extreme that no one is going to get a return on that money and if it was possible for council to be involved in a private public agreement of some sort and for the council to buy the site and then have a private developer develop the site within the guidelines that council gave would be a wonderful way out if it was possible to occur," said Mr Arundell.
Source: ABC News, 12 June 2012
