A group of Wollongong heritage campaigners have expressed concern about the new online planning meetings, which are being held to consider any contentious development applications during the coronavirus outbreak.
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Next week, the Wollongong Local Planning panel will meet - however, like other council meetings, the panel has been moved online under distancing rules.
The meeting will be livestreamed through the council's website, with only staff and panel members able to attend in person. Members of the public who wish to speak at the meeting must register online and can address the panel by telephone.
A plan to build an eight-storey apartment complex at the corner of Smith and Harbour Streets is the only item on the agenda, which has angered a group of residents who have been campaigning to stop the proposal from going ahead.
Developers lodged plans last September to knock down Marlene Court, a circa 1938 block, and build a $6 million "exclusive boutique complex" containing six apartments including a three-level penthouse.
More than 100 residents have objected to the plans, according to a council report, with many submitting feedback through the group Save our Heritage Precinct Wollongong.
They have expressed concerns about the scale of the building, its impacts upon the heritage-filled harbour area and the affect it will have on surrounding residents.
Smith Street resident Jane Robertson, who has led the push to stop the building, said she did not believe it was fair for the public hearings to go ahead amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"Although council may wish to carry on with business as usual these are not usual times and it seems the democratic process will be listed as one of Wollongong's first pandemic casualties," Ms Robertson said.
"The community is so stretched at the moment, and people don't have time for this. I don't understand the urgency, why can't we come back to this development application when this is all over?"
She said the group was unable to meet to "strategise", and feared some people may have trouble with the technology.
Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said it was necessary for council business to continue during the pandemic, but he hoped there would be extra caution taken during any online meetings.
"As long as there's the opportunity for input and transparency, these meetings do need to continue," he said.
"But I would suggest to all panel members that they make their decision even more explicit and clear so there is no question about what has happened during the meeting, or a suggestion that submissions have been ignored."
On March 24, as part of a suite of law amendments to be in place during the pandemic, the NSW Government made it possible for council meetings to be held via video link instead of in person.
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
