Mural refused after failing independent assessment

The saga surrounding a Crystal Lane mural has to come to end after an independent planner deemed the work unsuitable for its heritage surroundings.

Conjecture around the mural began when artwork was painted on the side of a doctor's surgery located within a heritage building (Wendt's Chambers) in a heritage precinct without development consent.

Council informed the building owner that a development application (DA) was required for the work, and began working with the owner to meet compliance regulations, and facilitated a meeting with the city's Heritage Advisor.

However while the DA was being processed by Council staff, an Extraordinary Meeting was called by some Councillors to publicly discuss the matter, thereby compromising Council's DA assessment process.

As a result Councillors voted to hand the DA over to an independent third party, Edge Land Planning, to ensure that assessment would be entirely impartial.

Edge Land Planning assessed that the mural's design and location did not meet various local and State Government requirements, including the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, State Environmental Planning Policy no.64 - Advertising and Signage, and Broken Hill's Development Control Plan 2016 and Local Environment Plan 2013.

In addition, the owner failed submit a Heritage Impact Statement that was required as part of the DA process.

As a result, Councillors tonight voted to refuse the DA, and request that the mural be removed from the building.

Council's General Manager, James Roncon, said Councillors faced a difficult decision when considering the DA.

"When you put emotion to one side and look at the facts, it was a very tough DA for Councillors to support," he said.

"It didn't meet a range of legislative requirements, there was required documentation missing, and both Council's Heritage Advisor and an independent assessor judged the mural as being inconsistent with the city's heritage focus.

"It would have arguably set a dubious precedent had Councillors pushed the DA through given the issues surrounding this application.

“I think handing the DA over to a third party for assessment was also an appropriate course of action in this instance."

Mayor Darriea Turley said it was disappointing that such a simple matter had become needlessly complex and costly.

"This issue has really highlighted why operational matters such as compliance and DA's should be left to Council staff until Councillor input is required," she said.

"It's very disappointing that an Extraordinary Meeting was called that compromised the assessment being undertaken by Council staff, leaving the majority of Councillors with little choice but to refer the matter to an independent body.

"This matter got blown completely out of proportion and has ended up costing Council significantly more than it should have."

The total cost to have the DA independently assessed was approximately $9,500.