IT’S judgment day on Thursday for two big Lake Macquarie projects worth a combined $83 million.
The Joint Regional Planning Panel will consider the $23 million Whitebridge plan and the $60 million Stockland Glendale expansion.
Lake Macquarie City Council staff assessed both plans and concluded they should get the green light.
The Whitebridge plan has been billed as a test case for the future urban landscape of Lake Macquarie.
Council officials have for years been seeking greater density in town centres and some suburbs, but they have faced strong resistance at Whitebridge.
The council received 747 submissions to the plan over three rounds of public exhibition – most of them objections.
The plan comprises 91 dwellings and three commercial tenancies on the ground floor in a mix of two- and three-storey buildings, with a four-storey section.
Developer SNL asserted that the plan was consistent with the council’s strategic planning and controls and would increase housing supply and diversity.
Residents opposed the plan’s height and density and had argued for a reduction in the development’s size.
Councillor Rob Denton urged the panel on Twitter on Wednesday to ‘‘listen 2 locals’’.
Whitebridge Community Alliance posted criticisms on Facebook over several days, which it dubbed the council planning department’s ‘‘Greatest Hits’’.
In a post on Wednesday, the alliance urged people to attend the panel meeting in numbers. ‘‘Show your support for those members of the community who are addressing the meeting,’’ it said.
‘‘It will show the panel members that we are a united community with valid concerns – that we care enough about our neighbourhood to turn up to a meeting on a cold winter’s night to support each other.’’
The Stockland Glendale plan includes doubling the amount of retail shops, a Coles expansion and an enclosed mall with a row of specialty stores in front of existing outlets.
The shopping centre wants about 50 new retail shops, adding to the 53 already there, planning documents show.
A ‘‘boulevard restaurant precinct’’ with casual dining areas would link the shops and cinema.
The council report said car parking spaces were proposed to decrease from 2317 to 2275 – a loss of 42 spaces.
Some residents had raised concerns about this, but the council said the reduction was acceptable. The panel meeting will start at 5pm, with the Glendale plan up first.
Source:- www.theherald.com.au
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