RESIDENTS of University Road, Miranda, have agreed to a Sutherland Shire Council plan for high-density development in the street.
It comes after Miranda Public School, the Department of Education & Communities and a developer reached an agreement that will lessen the impact of future high-rise development on a school playground for special needs students.
The council proposed as part of its draft local environmental plan to rezone the street high density, allowing an eight-storey unit development to be built six metres from the boundary of the school’s sensory playground for special needs children.
Parents and teachers of Miranda Public School’s support unit for special needs children said building high-rise units next door would cause distress and loss of privacy for emotionally vulnerable children.
The council deferred the proposal from its new LEP for more consultation with the school to get the ‘‘best possible outcome’’ for pupils who use the playground.
The Department of Education & Communities organised a meeting at Miranda Public School on February 9 with representatives of the school, the P&C and the council.
‘‘The developer in control of most properties on the eastern side of University Road — Galileo — has made a proposal to the school and the department, with the aim of alleviating the impact of redevelopment on Miranda Public school,’’ said a report to the council’s development assessment and planning committee.
This includes an all-weather, steel-framed angled roof over the playground, with skylights and roof lighting; a two-metre high brick wall to separate the playground from adjoining residential development; landscaping to create privacy, a $25,000 donation to the school for play equipment; and a 19-metre rear setback from the boundary of residential land and the school for a future residential flat development.
The school and its P&C agreed to accept the Galileo proposal in principle.
Residents addressed the February 16 meeting of the council’s development assessment committee, asking the council to support the resumption of land on the eastern side of University Road back into the draft LEP.
‘‘We all acknowledge that University Road is the logical place for high density,’’ a spokesman for the residents told the committee.
‘‘We acknowledge that the sensory playground is important and an agreement has been reached between the developer and the department that the playground will be protected sympathetically.
‘‘We ask the council to go ahead to rezone the street to R4 high density.
‘‘It’s now in everyone’s interest to have the east side of University Road reinstated into the LEP.’’
The committee agreed to a request from University Road residents to remove the deferred status from the land on the eastern side of the road and for the draft Sutherland Shire LEP 2013 to go ahead, with the land rezoned R4 high density residential.
