APPROVAL for plans to upgrade The Oxford Hotel remains up in the air after three councillors moved to rescind a decision made on Wednesday night.
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Lion Majestic Pty Ltd has lodged a development application with Bathurst Regional Council seeking to make alterations and additions to the premises on the corner of William and Piper streets.
The proposal includes enclosing part of the existing beer garden to extend the dining area, upgrading the nightclub for use as a sports lounge, new entry to the sports bar from Piper Street, new entry to the hotel from William Street and an upgrade of finishes and fittings.
With such a proposal, the developer would be required to make a contribution in excess of $200,000 to council to compensate for a shortfall of parking spaces.
In September, council deferred a decision on the matter to allow the developer time to do their own parking study to justify less parking than required.
When the matter came before council again on Wednesday, approval was recommended.
Councillors went a step further, resolving to grant consent without the condition that would require a contribution.
Councillors Ian North, John Fry and Graeme Hanger voted against it and on Thursday lodged a rescission motion in an attempt to reverse the decision.
On the night of the meeting, Cr North was advocating for a 12-month deferral of the contribution to allow the developer more time to come up with the money after the difficult COVID period.
The majority of councillors, however, felt the developer shouldn't have to pay the contribution at all, not only because of the impacts of the pandemic, but because they disagreed with how much parking was required for that site.
"With a hotel, if I'm going there for a night out I won't drive and park there, I'll get a taxi there or I'll walk there," Cr Warren Aubin said.
"I just don't really see the need ... I'm quite happy with what's gone through from here and I'm A-OK with letting [the contribution requirement] slip off.
"I think we, as in COVID times, need to be promoting any development we can as best we can."
The concern councillors who voted against the proposal had was that waiving the contribution could set a precedent for future developers to request their contributions be waived.
Cr North explained the reason behind the rescission motion to the Western Advocate on Friday.
He said he was not against the development, but worried about the long-term impact of a decision to waive more than $200,000.
Contributions from developers are used by council to provide additional parking across the city, which will become even more important in the coming years if plans to build a multi-storey car park behind Bathurst RSL Club eventuate.
"He wants to expand his business, great, I think that's wonderful, we encourage it," Cr North said.
"But there's a requirement under our code if you can't hit it, this is what you pay."
He wants councillors to reconsider their decision over the coming days and hopes enough will support the rescission motion when it is dealt with at an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday.
"I've got nothing against Ash [Lyons] or any business, and I know it's tough times, but if we don't collect what we need to collect to do things, it means we can't go ahead with a lot of different projects in the future," Cr North said.
