THE fate of the Voluntary Planning Agreement for the 1400-home Redbank development at North Richmond has been left hanging, after four councillors walked out of last night’s Council meeting.
Some members of the gallery and the four councillors who left the room just before the vote (Cr Christine Paine, Cr Mary Lyons-Buckett, Cr Barry Calvert and Cr Leigh Williams) were unhappy with the VPA, with their main concern being no certainty of an additional bridge for residents already fed up with traffic congestion west of the river.
Crs Calvert, Paine, Lyons-Buckett, Tree, Conolly and Ford all spoke on the item. Cr Williams asked to speak but Cr Ford said he wanted to wrap it up.
Six speakers had already spoken aside from the councillors.
In the VPA, the plan is for a multi-span bridge through Navua Reserve at Grose Wold, at a cost of $23,825,000. Developers said approval for the bridge would be sought before the 401st lot was released.
If the bridge wasn’t given DA approval, developers said the money would be given to Council and/or the RMS for work on roads in North Richmond and Richmond to alleviate traffic congestion.
Other works proposed in the VPA included a childcare centre, community centre and 1.2km of footpaths radiating from a park in the estate.
For more read next week’s Gazette.
