A proposal for a 47-place childcare centre in Vivienne Street, Kingsgrove, scene of a fatal accident in 2012, has been refused by the Georges River Local Planning Panel.
In a unanimous decision, the panel concluded that refusal of the application was warranted due to the safety and traffic conflict concerns.
It was a win for residents who had safety issues over the increase in traffic if the proposed centre went ahead.
Vivienne Street was the scene of a fatal accident when a five year old boy was killed while crossing the road on the way to school in 2012.
The residents told the panel that the death had deeply affected their community and predicted “severe pedestrian and vehicle conflict” if the planned child care centre ahead.
The $730,000 DA by Futuristic Design Pty Ltd was for a two-storey child care centre on the corner of Kingsgrove Road and Vivienne Street, Kingsgrove which would accommodate up to 47 children aged 0 to five-years-of-age and to operate 7am to 6pm Monday to Friday.
Residents said the intersection of Vivienne Street and Kingsgrove Road was subject to “traffic mayhem” during school hours.
Kingsgrove Public and Kingsgrove High School are located approximately 300-metres to the south of the site.
In total, the council received 48 objections to the plan.
Last month the panel deferred its decision calling for a new traffic management study with specific information about the potential traffic conflicts in Vivienne Street and Kingsgrove Road during the operation of the proposed child care centre.
This week, the panel found that the potential traffic conflicts for Vivienne Street and Kingsgrove Road were not adequately addressed in the applicant’s report.
“As a result the panel believes that the traffic conflict and safety aspects of this proposed development is unsatisfactory,” the panel’s determination stated.
The panel found that the site was not suitable for the development and would have an adverse impact on Vivienne Street and Kingrove Road due to the subsequent additional traffic.
“The width of Vivienne Street does not provide the required three-metre lanes in both directions when cars are parked on either side of the road,” the panel said in its decision.
This would compromise vehicle and pedestrian safety when using the road and accessing and leaving the proposed centre’s basement car park.
“The impact of the additional vehicles in the location during peak times without the additional signage is considered to be unsatisfactory and detrimental to pedestrian and vehicle movement in Vivienne Street.”
