HAWKESBURY Council has deferred a decision on whether to allow a block of land at 98 Bells Lane, Kurmond, into four plots.
Councillor Paul Rasmussen moved a motion to defer the decision at Council’s June 28 meeting, and the motion passed five votes to four.
Cr Rasmussen, Barry Calvert, Leigh Williams, Mary Lyons-Buckett and Bob Porter voted to defer the motion, while Mike Creed, Jill Reardon and Christine Paine were absent.
Cr Rasmussen said he was wary of more development west of the Hawkesbury River.
“On many occasions, we as a Council wave through these proposals to subdivide land west of the river in the Kurmond/Kurrajong Investigation Area,” he said.
“There seems to be a lack of want to get infrastructure for houses west of the river and I think it is detrimental.”
Cr Rasmussen said continued development in the area meant more and more people moved into an area already struggling with a lack of infrastructure.
“It is a significant cost to Council's bottom line,” he said.
“As we know, roads become almost unusable at peak times, we know people divert onto the best local roads they can find
“I don’t think it is good enough that we keep going around on this merry-go-round where we impose significant travel times and then place the burden upon rate payers.”
Michael Wont, respresenting the North Richmond Districts Community Action Association, criticised Council at the meeting, and accused them of not engaging with the community.
Council Director of City Planning Matthew Owens said Council had met with Mr Wont and his associates.
“We discussed this at length with Mr Wont and his representatives,” he said.
Mr Owens added that Council had written to every land owner in the area about the decision.