OPPONENTS of a multi-storey development planned for the Toronto foreshore will take to the skies on Saturday to raise awareness of the proposal.
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Toronto Foreshore Protection Group (TFPG) will release tethered helium-filled balloons to the height of a four- and six-storey building.
TFPG spokesperson Suzanne Pritchard said the balloons would be raised to give locals an indication of the height such buildings would reach.
Lake Macquarie City Council has proposed building a multi-storey tourism and residential development on the Bath Street site, next to Royal Motor Yacht Club, Toronto.
The council owns the site, and recently resolved to spend up to $1 million to investigate the feasibility of such a development.
The council is currently in the middle of a month-long community consultation period which it says will play a key role in shaping the Toronto Foreshore Masterplan.
The masterplan would determine uses of the lakeside strip from Wharf Road to Bath Street.
As part of tht consultation, council is hosting a series of drop-in information sessions about plans for the Toronto foreshore.
The next drop-in session will be held this Saturday, on the Toronto foreshore, from 9am to noon.
The drop-in session will coincide with TFPG’s balloon demonstration.
Ms Pritchard said council had omitted the Bath Street development proposal from the masterplan, and had therefore “missed the point” of having an integrated plan for the Toronto foreshore.
“Land zoned operational near the heritage train station is included, so why is foreshore land zoned operational at Bath Street not included?” she said.
“We don’t understand council’s logic.”
Council’s property manager Kate Cramp said the Bath Street site had been included “in the consultation process” and was on the Shape Lake Mac website.
“People have been tagging comments to the Bath Street site,” Ms Cramp said.
The masterplan would offer an integrated approach to planning on the foreshore, and would be guided by community comment on the Bath Street proposal, she said.
“Council have openly said in the information flyers that the intent of the consultation is to ensure there is an integrated masterplan developed. The masterplan brief will be informed by the feedback gathered through this community consultation process.”
Ms Pritchard said planning and development controls in Toronto should be respected.
“Council has produced a Toronto Town Centre plan to guide integrated development. However, it seems as if council is not planning to abide by it at the Bath Street site,” she said.
“This sends a poor message to the community.”
Ms Cramp said the operational zoning of the Bath Street site presented council with an opportunity to develop a commercial venture that would be a long-term source of income for the city.
Ultimate approval of any development application for the site – if the proposal gets that far – would not rest with council.
“Council is not the determining authority regarding any potential future DA – there is a state planning approval process through the Regional Planning Panel that council will follow,” she said. “Council’s April decision was just to continue investigations into the proposed development concept.”
TFPG will host a community meeting on the issue, at Toronto High School, on Tuesday, September 4, at 7pm.
“Councillors have been invited,” Ms Pritchard said.
