Member for Ku-ring-gai, Barry O’Farrell and Member for Davidson, Jonathan O’Dea have made a further strong appeal to Planning Minister, Kristina Keneally, regarding the highly unpopular Ku-ring-gai Town Centre Draft LEP.
In addition to specific site concerns, the following general points were emphasised:
· that the proposals would force substantially more than 10,000 new dwellings on the local area by 2031, contrary to the agreement with Ku-ring-gai Council;
· the existing problems with local infrastructure and services (including traffic) around the town centres, and the current lack of commitment to new transport infrastructure;
· how the height, bulk and density of many potential developments of five and nine storeys are out of character with the surrounding environment;
· the plan’s failure to protect identified conservation areas, with some streets of high conservation or heritage value effectively ignored; and
· the inappropriateness of a planning approach that denies local communities appropriate opportunity to be heard.
“Yesterday’s meeting with the Minister provided an opportunity to represent the overwhelming views of an angry local community to the Minister, prior to her ultimate decision on the composition the Town Centres,” Mr O’Dea said.
“In addition, I presented another petition to the NSW Parliament containing well over 1,000 signatures, opposing the draft Town Centre LEP and calling for the current plans to be rejected.
“We appreciate the Ministerial meeting, but need her to translate listening into real action. The Plan must be substantially amended and the proposed overdevelopment reduced, particularly in St Ives,” Mr O’Dea said.
“An independent audit of new dwelling numbers should also be undertaken to clarify the current (already high) number projections and to include the many additional sites that have been excluded from current calculations.
“The revised plan should not be considered for final adoption until late 2009, when the Development Control Plan is due to be finalised,” Mr O’Dea concluded.
