Devine to Shadow Gardens

Devine's French Quarter project will place shadows over the Botanical Gardens. This is a concern.

This is what the Courier Mail says:

DEVELOPERS building high-rises over Brisbane's Botanic Gardens will no longer have to worry about casting a shadow under new city council laws.

Devine's $1 billion French Quarter precinct, fronting Alice, Margaret and Albert streets, which proposes two towers overshadowing the gardens, will be one of the first beneficiaries of Brisbane City Council's City Centre neighbourhood plan, whereby developers don't have to lodge shadow reports.

While the precinct's design is not yet complete, Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said he would still seek more details about the shadow impact.

"In relation to the Devine proposal, that will be an issue I'll certainly be asking (about)," Cr Newman said.

"With the Vision tower, there was a bit of a shadow issue - it was a small one - and we had to weigh up the positive nature of the development."

Cr Newman said the shadow impact of French Quarter would be put into perspective.

"That doesn't mean if there's a shadow, it won't get up," he said.

Labor, which comprised the majority of the council when the decision was made, said it was complying with the wishes of the Liberal Lord Mayor.

"This was the Lord Mayor's wish - this was ultimately a decision of his," Opposition Planning spokesman Milton Dick said. "At the time, the argument was there was significant shading already in the Botanic Gardens."

Neighbourhood Planning chairwoman Amanda Cooper said the City Centre plan had been through the council twice and was in the process of being implemented.

"It was felt that there was no longer any shadowing that could impact on the Botanic Gardens because of the buildings that actually existed," she said.