THE two proposed nine-storey Nalagi Residential Apartments at Flagstaff in Suva will result in an overdevelopment of 5 per cent for the zone it currently sits on.
This was the response Jacqueline Hughes, of the project’s EIA consultant Planit Pacific Pte Ltd, gave while responding to a question from Suva lawyer Adrienne Ali.
The lot sits on a commercial B zone and was upgraded from ‘residential B’ in 2022.
“Another issue here is this property is only zoned Commercial B,” Ms Ali had said.
“They are exceeding the density ratio and you’re trying to hide that in this report because I searched this report and there is no mention of zoning,” Ms Ali said about the EIA report.
“So, why isn’t the zoning mentioned in this report? Because you have exceeded, the developers have exceeded the density ratio for Commercial B zoning.
“If you want to exceed it, apply for a rezoning, and I will object to that strenuously as well.”
Ms Ali also questioned why the Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) allowed them to begin operations without submitting their Operational Environmental Management Plan (OEMP)
“Every other developer in this country has had to produce an OEMP. When? At what stage of the development, beforehand?
“These people are being given six months, six months after operation to produce an OEMP.
“Now, I want to know from the DTCP’s office, why did they get a pass while all other developers have to do it beforehand?”
In response, Ms Hughes said conditional development within a zone could be granted by the director of the Department of Town and Country Planning.
“The outline approval was granted, and yes, it is on Commercial B and residential is a conditional development within the Commercial B, which makes it a permitted conditional development.
“So, when you do the calculations, if you exclude the car parking, they are 3.6:1 ratio, which is point one or 5 percent over development.
“DTCP can grant up to 20 percent over development if your development can connect to the sewer, which in this case does connect to the sewer because WAF (Water Authority of Fiji) has confirmed the capacity for them to take that wastewater into their system.”
Regarding the OEMP, neither representative from the Suva City Council present at the meeting was able to explain why the OEMP was given late.
