Newmarket's planners are recommending councillors give the green light to the Slessor development at the Committee of the Whole meeting on 4 February.
Slessor's original twin tower proposal is rejected but the refined, re-worked, modified and endlessly re-imagined alternative gets the go-ahead.
Bad news!
The staff report says two buildings at 21 and 19 storeys and another two at 8 storeys would be OK. All levered into a tight 4.6 acre site.
If councillors accept the report - and the thinking behind it - Newmarket will be utterly transformed within a decade.
Even now, after months of discussions and negotiations, there are major issues still outstanding - traffic impact for example. These are to be subject to so-called "holding provisions". The developer will have to satisfy the Council that these are being addressed. Hmmmm.
We shall see.
Newmarket may be about to throw overboard the very feature that makes the town so attractive - its human scale.
You can read the report here. Scroll to Slessor Square - staff report 4 February 2013.
