NOT ONE seat was empty in the gallery, and seats in the lobby were hard to find, as the united community of The Islands in Kurrajong Hills gathered to fight off proposed development.
Young children, their parents and older residents of The Islands gathered at the Council Chamber last Tuesday to oppose a development application proposing the construction of 450 large lot residential estate on Hermitage Road at Kurrajong Hills, or Middle Island as it’s more commonly known.
Speaking on behalf of her community in Kurrajong Hills, Mary Mooney said the application did not meet strategic requirements, the site was bush fire prone and there was no sound justification for the need of such a proposal.
“Whether we have jumped the gun on this matter or not, we as a community want to send a message of solidarity that we oppose proposals such for Middle Island now or later,” Mrs Mooney said.
Also opposed to the application, Islands resident Paul Moore created a visual for Councillors when it came to simple concerns in regard to the proposal, such as garbage collection and fire evacuation.
“Every second Sunday residents tow their bins two kilometres to the front gate for collection, that’s 60 bins in total,” Mr Moore said. “This development is proposing 450 lots, that’s 900 bins ... where would all the bins line up, where would they fit? “What about fire evacuation, there is one road in and out of this estate, I don’t want to sound melodramatic, but we would all burn alive in our cars trying to escape.”
Council voted in favour of the staff recommendation that the planning proposal not be supported, nor forwarded on to the Department of Planning and Infrastructure for a gateway determination.
It was unanimously opposed by Council.