Sutherland Shire mayor Kent Johns says the small lot sizes of many of the 320 new homes approved for West Menai are ‘‘laughable’’.
Cr Johns said another ‘‘frightening aspect’’ of the approved plan was the ‘‘extreme bushfire risk’’.
The Department of Planning and Environment announced on Monday, July 27, the rezoning of 23 hectares of bushland for low-level housing, which was about 10 per cent of the original Heathcote Ridge proposal.
Homes will be built in six parcels of land close to New Illawarra Road. (Click here to see where the new homes will be located)
Two of the land parcels, which adjoin existing housing in the Ella Avenue area, will have minimum lot size of 200 square metres.
The other four parcels, south of The Ridge sporting complex, will have a minimum lot size of 550 square metres.
Cr Johns said that although the approval was for only a fraction of the original ambitious application, it was nevertheless very significant to the community because it would allow about 320 new homes on very small lots.
‘‘Lots as small as 200 square metres have been proposed for Heathcote Ridge,’’ he said.
‘‘Sutherland Shire has never had residential lots this small.
‘‘The new local environmental plan (LEP), approved by the same department just last month sets 550 square metres as the minimum lot size in the shire.
‘‘Its laughable that the department expects the community to accept this approach.
‘‘Basically, it could mean an entire suburb of what are essentially townhouses on individual lots.
‘‘Our community has not endorsed such a radical change in planning direction.’’
Cr Johns said the shire community knew firsthand the reality of the bushfire threat in this area, yet six more urban pockets would be at risk.
‘This simply means more fire front to manage, more homes to evacuate and resources being further stretched in future,’’ he said.
‘‘The department also has decided to permit childcare centres in the new areas, exposing these children to the risk and making evacuation in a bushfire that much harder to manage.’’
Holsworthy MP Melanie Gibbons said the rezoning did not include any mandatory landscaped area for the new lots.
‘‘The detail is very light on in but is appears this will be a far more intense use of the approved site than was proposed,’’ she said.
Ms Gibbons said 23 hectares of cleared bushland would be a significant loss of sensitive natural area and would impact on cultural heritage sites.
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