Stanley Street house gets green light for demolition

The house at 36 Stanley Street was the subject of a lengthy report to last week's council meeting.

While the property is in the Bathurst Heritage Conservation Area, it is not listed as heritage item itself.

There were also differing opinions as to its significance outlined in the report by director of Environmental, Planning and Building Services, Neil Southorn.

"A Heritage Impact Statement (HIS) prepared by Patsy Moppet Consulting dated August 2021 initially indicated that the dwelling may have been constructed between 1848 and 1877 (later revised to 1865-1870) and concluded that the historical significance would be low," he said.

"Given the age of construction Council would not support this conclusion.

"The period of construction would mean the dwelling is a very early building in Bathurst and therefore the heritage significance would be a lot higher."

There were also concerns raised about the infill development to replace the dwelling, as the scale, form and size is substantially larger than the existing dwelling.

While council ultimately approved the development, conditions of consent were imposed to lessen the visual impact in the heritage area.

Prior to the issue of a Construction Certificate, details of any fencing fronting Rankin Street will have to be submitted and approved by council, or the applicant is to provide an alternative design to the proposed fencing fronting Rankin Street to improve the Rankin Street streetscape and experience of the pedestrian on the Rankin Street footpath.

There are also conditions of consent encouraging the reuse of bricks, windows and joinery.

The owner of the property, David Reynolds, spoke at the public forum prior to the council meeting, sharing the significance of the property to he and his wife.

"The house down there has been in our family for many generations. We acquired the property about 13 years ago when my grandfather went to a nursing home. We didn't want to see the property sold outside of the family so we purchased it, but it's only been in recent times we've been able to afford to do something with it," he said.

He said there have been many discussions with council, which had helped shape the plans for the property, and he was sure they could meet the conditions of consent council had come up with.

"We look forward to making that corner and that area of the town much better than it is today," Mr Reynolds said.

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