JRPP Refuses the DA for The Module

The JRPP unanimously agreed with Hornsby Shire Council's recommendation, and refused the DA 545 application for a 140 residential unit on the corner of Hannah Street and Beecroft Road. 
Greg Smith gave an excellent speach against the proposal, as did Councillor Michael Hutchence.  Bernadette Azizi and Robert Browne were also present. Ross Walker gave a ten minute speach on behalf of the Trust, and eleven other local residents contributed, all opposing the development. 
The applicant suggested they could "tinker" with the design to make it more acceptable, and asked for a deferral rather than refusal. That is what happened with the UnitingCare proposal on Hannah Street, which was accepted on the second hearing, partly due to a decline in the level of protest.
A lesson for the future was the importance of maintaining the level of objection.  There were something like 250 objections to the initial proposal last year, but only about 50 objections to the modified design issued early this year.  I am sure most people who had originally objected assumed that their earlier objection still counted, but the applicant used the lack of protest to imply increasing acceptance of this proposal.  So in such important matters it is vitally important to keep up the volume of protest at every opportunity.