PENRITH City Council’s approval is the final hurdle for the next phase of a mass housing development on the St Marys western and central precincts of the ADI site.
The development is expected to provide a staggering 3500 new homes for western Sydney.
Two new suburbs within the Penrith and Blacktown local government areas will emerge once these precincts are given the thumbs-up.
The precincts, formerly part of the Australian Defence Industries site in St Marys, cover the eastern side of Forrester Road, to the Northern Road in Cranebrook to the west, and are bounded by Llandilo and Willmot in the north and Cambridge Gardens, Werrington County and Dunheved industrial area to the south.
Developer Delfin Lend Lease is lodging the precinct plans with Penrith City Council and, if all goes to plan, the first construction phase is scheduled for mid-2009.
The fresh details of this new phase of the ADI housing project that began in 1993 were confirmed for The Gazette by Delfin Lend Lease project director Arthur Ilias.
“We are merely awaiting the final report on feedback gathered from the local community to make sure that everything is transparent,” Mr Ilias said.
A public forum was held on July 1 at the Cranebrook Neighbourhood Centre as part of the ongoing consultation with the wider community, but it was reported that less than a dozen residents attended.
“I think this is an indication that the community is generally comfortable where the project is now heading,” Mr Ilias said. “Five years ago, our public consultations would have 500 people turning up and there were several residents’ action groups against it at the time.
“I think generally the community have seen what we’ve done, that we are delivering housing, schools, jobs and a great outcome for the environment. We have 900 hectares allocated for a regional park, which has been zoned earlier to form part of a balanced conservation park... There are at least 2000 kangaroos and emus that you can find within this park.
“We are not just meeting the needs for housing but we are also providing schools, childcare centres, shops and parks which are all important in creating a sustainable community.”
Of the estimated 3500 homes to be built, 2000 will be situated on the western precinct, said to be the largest portion of the project. This precinct is the subject of vigorous campaigning from concerned citizens who proposed the entire area be listed for conservation purposes – a bid overturned by the NSW planning department.
Mr Ilias said there will be new schools, modern shopping centres and parks that will emerge on the western precinct and the precinct plans will be available for public viewing at Penrith Council chambers.
“This project fits the metropolitan strategy towards meeting the housing needs of western Sydney,” Mr Ilias said. “From our experience, 80 per cent are local buyers so it’s a project that’s meeting the needs of local households.”
The first phase of the ADI site housing project was built on the eastern precinct approved by Blacktown City Council in February 2004 despite strong public opposition to the plan. It is now called Ropes Crossing, covering 132 hectares of land subdivided for 1800 homesites.
Delfin Lend Lease named it Ropes Crossing in memory of Anthony Rope, a convict who arrived in Sydney with the First Fleet in 1788 who was known as the first settler in the St Marys district.
Email a friend
Favourites
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Reddit
Newsvine
LinkedIn
Kwoff
Twitter