The convener of a Wollongong residents' group is "delighted" with independent findings that labelled plans for the city's Bass and Flinders Gateway development "excessive" and "out of context".
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Neighbourhood Forum 5 representative and former council planner David Winterbottom said the group had opposed the towering CBD development "from the moment it was made public".
He welcomed a report from council-appointed assessor, Elton Consulting, that suggested a proposal to rezone the city "gateway" be axed.
"This [proposal] flies in the face of every strategic plan that's ever been made for the centre of Wollongong."
Wollongong's development controls were already "pretty flexible and lax", meaning there was no excuse for not keeping within the guidelines.
"Just down the road on Flinders Street they have recently approved a huge development, which conformed with every element of the planning scheme," he said.
"If there's not a level playing field and the council is seen to be playing fast and loose with its own provisions, then all the people between that site and Crown Central have got a reasonable beef to say 'hey, if they can do that over there, why can't we do it here?'."