An argument over aesthetics between the backers of a proposed hotel and residential complex and planning authorities is threatening to bring the $66 million project to a grinding halt.
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The "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" debate about the future of Regency Tower - a 29-level hotel and residential tower planned for Wollongong's highest hill - is set to be thrashed out at Monday's Joint Regional Planning Panel meeting.
The site has had a history of failed development in the past decade, with both a 14-storey residential block and a 27-storey complex proposed for the site ultimately falling through before construction.
The most recent proposal, lodged with Wollongong City Council late last year, ran into trouble in October, with the council staff recommending the JRPP reject the application as it "did not achieve design excellence".
The decision pushed designer PRD Architects and planning consultants Cardno back to the drawing board. Both firms recently submitted a revised plan including the removal of an entire floor; a reduction in the building's height from 85.7 metres to 83 metres; redistributed floor space; expansion of pedestrian areas with new curved awnings; and improvement of the facade.
However, in a new council report to be presented to Monday's meeting, the project is again recommended for rejection.
Staff are claiming that the design still isn't good enough.
However, Cardno planner David Laing has hit back at the allegation, with a letter to the panel saying design excellence was not an "absolute state" but entirely subjective.
"The opinion of the design review panel does not present a widely accepted professional view, or at least a view held by a sizeable group of professionals.
,"Would all architects share the same view, would another group of three [architects on a the panel] hold a different view? Of course they would."
Mr Laing said the proposal complied with all the planning laws and guidelines, including Wollongong's Local Environment Plan and Development Control Plan, and no residents had complained about the building's appearance during the public exhibition period.
"You have to respect the individuality of buildings - urban areas are made up of a variety of different architectural styles. We stand firm behind this development and the contribution it makes to the city of Wollongong."
