A request to amend the Hawkesbury Environmental Plan to allow a subdivision of nine lots in Kurrajong was approved by Council on December 9, against Council’s own planning code.
Under Council’s Residential Land Strategy, any subdivision must be within one kilometre of the nearest town centre. The application for a subdivision at 431 Greggs Road was 69 metres outside this one kilometre zone and so Council staff recommended the application be declined.
This year, a total of 33 development applications were approved in Kurrajong and 10 in Kurmond.
Robert Montgomery from Montgomery Planning Solutions, speaking for the developer, said the application was lodged approximately three months ago and in that time he hadn’t received any correspondence from Council indicating there was a problem.
‘‘It’s not maximising potential, it’s an average of one lot per two and a half acres,’’ he said.
‘‘Vegetation is generally around the edges of land where there’s no threat of future development and the land has only been used for grazing.’’
Mr Montgomery said the Residential Land Strategy was a ‘‘strategic guideline, not a hard and fast rule’’.
Councillor Jill Reardon agreed the application should be approved.
‘‘I think we have approved other developments in that area outside of that zone, so a precedent has already been set,’’ she said.
Cr Mike Creed also agreed.
‘‘I think we can bend the rules slightly as it’s not even 10 per cent (outside the zone),’’ he said.
Cr Paul Rasmussen said he wouldn’t support the application.
‘‘If we keep bowling these up we are clearly going to cover Kurrajong in small lot subdivisions and with infrastructure the way it is, I don’t think that’s appropriate,’’ he said.
Cr Mary Lyons-Buckett said the RLS was to show people what they can and can’t do with land. ‘‘It’s being bent one way or another; I think it’s confusing and unfair,’’ she said.
‘‘We need to have limits and I can’t cope with the bending all the time. I thought consistency and uniformity was what it was meant to be delivering.’’
Cr Patrick Conolly agreed. ‘‘We need to continue to implement the strategy,’’ he said.
Following the meeting a rescission motion was lodged to reverse the decision. The matter will come to Council in 2015.
Voting for: Crs Ford, Tree, Porter, Reardon and Creed. Against: Crs Rasmussen, Lyons-Buckett, Williams and Conolly. Absent: Crs Calvert, Paine and Mackay.
