On the day of the meeting, the Smiths discover that the council planning report recommends deferral pending further modifications. The Smiths' planner and the residents are given three minutes each to have their say. The councillors ask no questions and appear to have made up their minds. The plans are refused unanimously. The Smiths appeal to the Land and Environment Court.
Modified plans are prepared and re-advertised.
But the objectors are not willing to withdraw their objections. The three-day hearing is addressed by heritage advisers, traffic experts, landscape experts and planners for both sides. The mayor writes a vitriolic letter to the Herald complaining that the court's decision reflects a gross abuse of a democratically elected council's decision-making. There are one or two things which we should discuss. Smith and the project home designer meet council planners the following week to be told there are several problems, the most serious being the way the house is sited on the lot and the poor attention to solar access.