“Restaurant proposal angers Collina residents”

Restaurant proposal angers Collina residents

Posted: 22 Jul 2010 05:46 PM PDT

A BRAWL is brewing over plans for a million-dollar family restaurant in the heart of Collina.

A proposal by Zeplan Developments to build a restaurant with "a registered club atmosphere" on Clifton Boulevard has outraged neighbouring residents.

Tentatively titled "The Clifton", the restaurant would cater for up to 150 patrons and feature a dining room, children's play area, alfresco facilities and an outdoor stage for live entertainment, according to the development application submitted to council.

The restaurant would be served by up to 50 car parks and trade seven days a week between 9am and 10.30pm.

But opponents of the development, many of whom are retirees, worry it will shatter the tranquillity that drew them to the area in the first place.

Brooks Street resident Brian Alty said he would be devastated if Griffith City Council granted the development approval.

He said the noise that would be generated by the patrons and increased traffic would be simply unacceptable in a residential area.

"We strongly feel that our lifestyle will be severely compromised if this development goes ahead," Mr Alty said.

"We're retired people and we thought it was going to be a beautiful quiet area. Collina itself is designated a residential area and this will be an intrusion and an erosion of our privacy in this area."

Retired farmers Merlene and Jack Vearing, who only recently finished building their dream home in Collina, said they feared they would be forced to move if the restaurant went ahead.

"We're most upset about it because we thought we'd come here for the nice peace and quiet and now we could have this," Mrs Vearing said.

"We've put a lot of effort into our home and I said to Jack that it looks like we'll have to sell, but who's going to buy it?"

Developer Zep Lanza said the feedback he had received from residents was generally positive and that any concerns regarding noise and traffic could be alleviated through clever planning.

Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.