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There has been much discussion that the previously approved Development Application (DA) for Mudgee's Regent Theatre is "approved and ready to go".
However, this information does not take into consideration the significant changes to the recognition of the Regents amazing heritage which have occurred since this time.
Currently under an Interim Heritage Order (under the 1977 Heritage Act), and recommended for listing on the State Heritage Register (awaiting an decision to be announced), it hardly seems fair to mislead people into thinking that any previous DA will have the all clear.
On the contrary, all proposed developments must now undergo an additional review process via State Heritage, after local Council processes.
A development consent lapses five years after the date from which it operates (s95(1) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979)(EPAA). I believe any developer looking to approve DA plans via Local Council and State Government will need more time than the 7-8 month window provided, between the March auction date to November 2020 when the existing DA consent will lapse entirely.
The Regent Theatre has provided us with a great deal of new information since 2017. Designed by George Newtown Kenworthy, it is one of the few regional theatres of his that are still standing designed and it is rare in that it retains many of the original features. His theatres include the Cremorne Orpheum, Mudgee Regent, Hurstville Savoy, Bankstown Regent and the Port Macquarie Ritz.
