AT the Mitchell Shire Council’s Community Questions and Hearings Committee (Q&A) in Broadford, three residents aired concerns on a residential development PLP294/21 for a staged multi-lot subdivision, removal of native vegetation and removal of easements at 85 Reservoir Road, Broadford.
Despite the address, 85 Reservoir Road has no direct street frontage (to Reservoir Road) however, it is located approximately 800m from the Broadford Train station or 2km using the road network via High Street.
The development proposes 57 lots for residential living across 5.54ha in an area that is zoned accordingly.
Vehicle access to the site is provided through two roads (Alexander Drive and Tass Court) and access to these is via Lake View Drive which connects to Reservoir Road. There is no alternative sealed entry or exit, however the road networks have been assessed as satisfactory by a traffic engineer and the CFA.
The Q&A proceeded on Wednesday, November 5 at 7.05pm, following apologies from Cr Andrea Pace, Nathan Clarke and Ned Jefferies, and no conflicts of interests were heard from other Councillors.
Council received eight objections, and one was presented by proxy.
Concerned residents expressed spoke about the integrity of First Street, Govett Street, and Hawden Street as residents said these are way underdeveloped for its current residential capacity.
No street lighting and no engineered footpaths in these nearby roads cause one elderly resident to wear a high visibility vest each evening when she checks on a family member as pushing a pram or a shopping trolly on grassy nature strips is exhausting.
Council heard that the gravel verges on First Street are washed away when there’s a heavy downfall of rain.
Another resident raised similar concerns for young people using Hawden and Govett Streets and the resident also said her neighbours were not given notice to object.
A shared theme between nearby residents included the removal of wildlife habitat, (fauna and flora) and the issue of losing privacy and vistas (Mount Hickey and the Strathbogie Ranges), and real estate devaluation.
The property owner was also in the room and representative, Simon Merrigan used his allocated five minutes across the zoom platform to reassure residents that the design reflects current planning controls around vegetation and bushfire control.
“There’s about 1.5 acres of open space which equates to 12 per cent of the total area and that’s significant given the previous application had no open space, and there is no requirement for the developer to provide additional open space here.”
Six areas of the reserve will be created to primarily retain high value vegetation. The majority of the reserves are located adjacent to Colin Officer Reserve, the Broadford Golf Club and Council managed land (to the North of the site).
“There is an opportunity for a connection in the future, however there is not a lot we can do considering we don’t own any of that land.”
“This proposal now has perimeter roads [Alexander Drive and Tass Court and] as well as interconnecting roads.
The estate was always designed to provide access from those courts. There’s also a link to the Broadford Golf Club and to the abutting reserves [Colin Officer Reserve].”
PLP294/21 includes the removal of 60 Eucalyptus Macrocarpa (Grey Box) trees, five Eucalyptus Polyanthemos (Red Box), five Eucalyptus Macrohyncha (Red Stringybark) and, three Eucalyptus Obliqua (Messmate) and the number of indigenous trees to be retained equals 42.
Regardless of the development, perhaps it’s time to lobby their local members of Parliament for more funding for its rural road networks to also be a priority as the common content of the forum was based around the integrity of First Street, Govett Street, and Hawden Street as residents said these are way underdeveloped for its current residential capacity.
The forum closed at 8pm with a recommendation that the outcome from the Q&A forms a report to Council.
