ROCKDALE Council has put forward a major master plan to reinvigorate Rockdale town centre with increased height limits to encourage residential and retail development.
The plans are on public exhibition until March 16 and community workshops will take place in the next month to inform businesses and residents about the proposed changes.
A report on the outcome of the public consultation is expected to come back to the council in April.
The master process has cost the council $111,500 since it began in 2010, with $106,000 spent on external consultants.
Central to the plan is the redevelopment of Target and the adjoining properties and public car park into mixed-use buildings up to eight storeys high.
This would see residential apartments in the town centre with a ground-floor providore market and a new town square that would front Bryant Street, King Lane and Market Street.
Rockdale Chamber of Commerce president Rami Abdallah said the city was crying out for a master plan to reinvigorate business and investment in development.
Mr Abdullah said the plan was not a rehash of the council’s former ‘‘Destinations Rockdale’’ plan which included a redeveloped civic centre and transport interchange, but a new ‘‘achievable vision for the area’’.
He said higher density development on the out skirts of the CBD and the construction of Rockdale Plaza Shopping Centre took away many shoppers and businesses from the centre.
‘‘Rockdale is a diamond in the rough,’’ he said.
‘‘We need changes in height, floor space ratios and zonings to encourage investors and development.
‘‘A joint venture could get this started. Then you will see other developers come in and do more.’’
The long-touted new library and upgrades to
Rockdale Town Hall are also envisaged.
The plan also includes an arcade network and pedestrian walkways from the civic precinct are proposed to connect the new town square and market to King Street Place and Rockdale’s railway and bus interchange, and shops between Geeves Avenue and Princes Highway which are also flagged for mixed-use development.
Paths would run across the station to link the town centre and King Street Place to shops at Walz and Frederick streets where there would be shopping centre improvements and parking.
Car parking would be provided with multi-level stations at the existing York Street and Target car parks and Chapel Street and Geeves Avenue car parks.
The railway and bus interchange precinct would be redeveloped with ground- and first-floor retail shops, and residential towers above that would be a ‘‘landmark at the Seven Ways intersection’’.
Eight residential apartment buildings up to 12 storeys high are proposed for public car parks and adjoining sites at Bay Street and Chapel Street with ground-floor retail shops and a plaza fronting Bay Street.
The plaza would connect to the Uniting Church and a public pedestrian link would be established between the two developments.
Princes Highway south would see high and medium density apartments and mixed-use developments up to eight storeys high down to Rockdale Plaza Drive, long sought by property owners.
These would have six-metre setbacks to provide for landscaping and tree plantings along Princes Highway and Bay and Frederick streets to reduce traffic speeds and create a ‘‘boulevard feel to the highway’’.
Higher-density housing is also envisaged along King Street east which would be renamed ‘‘Rocky Hills’’.
Development of entertainment venues at Princes Highway north where Rocksia Hotel is located would include more pubs and function centres.
Do you think the plan provides Rockdale town centre with what it needs?What would you add?
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