The Local Planning Panel will this Wednesday decide the fate of a bid to rezone 35 acres of land in the Scenic Hills at Varroville for up to 163 residential lots.
Local Planning Panels (LPP) are part of the new landscape in NSW, whereby experts have taken over the role once performed by elected councillors.
After the panel has considered submissions made by interested parties, it makes recommendations to the council if the report relates to a planning proposal and determination if the report relates to a development application.
The panel’s recommendations or determinations become public by 4.30pm the Friday following the Local Planning Panel meeting.
Sittings of the LPP are open to the public
This month’s meeting is scheduled for 3pm this Wednesday, July 25, in the Campbelltown Council chambers.
The Campbelltown LPP is made up of Ian Reynolds (chairman), Mary-Lynne Taylor (expert member), Jenny Rudolph (expert member), Cecilia Cox (community member), Edward Saulig (alternate community member), Philip Hayward (alternate community member), Stuart McDonald (alternate chairman), Keith Robert Dedden (alternate chairman), Scott Lee (alternate expert) and Helena Miller (alternate expert).
There are just two items for consideration at this Wednesday’s sitting of the LPP.
As well as the planning proposal for Varroville, the panel will consider an application for a housing development of four dwellings and subdivision into four strata title allotments at 35 Fleming Drive, Campbelltown.
But the main item of interest will be the planning proposal to amend the Campbelltown Local Environmental Plan of 2015 to rezone land at 71 St Andrews Road, Varroville, from E3 Environmental Management to part R2 Low Density Residential and part E3 Environmental Management, to permit approximately 163 residential lots.
A report to the LPP says a previous planning proposal request for the site was rejected by Campbelltown Council in 2016 due to concerns regarding potential impacts on existing bushland and the Scenic Hills.
This bid is more likely to succeed because the amended plans have reduced the proposed urban footprint.
Preservation of additional bushland on the land as a potential biobanking site responds to previous concerns raised by council.
“The current planning proposal is considered to have broad level strategic planning merit due to its consistency with the urban-rural interface of the locality and the adjoining East Leppington Growth Centre,’’ the report says.
The land is bounded by St Andrews Road alignment to the south, the Sydney Water Supply Upper Canal to the east, and new residential subdivisions to north and west forming part of the East Leppington South West Growth Centre.
The neighbouring land to the north is being developed as low density residential housing by Stockland as part of its Willowdale development within the East Leppington Growth Precinct.
The land directly adjoining the subject site to the west (Camden LGA) is zoned R2 Low Density Residential and is being developed for housing by the Cornish Group.
Land to the south has been recently subdivided for low density housing as part of the Emerald Hills residential subdivision.
It has taken some time from when we as a Council were give the strongest assurances by the government planners that the Scenic Hills were inviolate and the residents of the greater Campbelltown would be surrounded to the West by these open spaces and to the east by the George’s River reserves but as always the developers desire for money overrules the well-being of the residents. The Greater Sydney Planning Committee headed by The lady of Vaucluse. Lucy Turnbull may not know that the workers in MacArthur already spend more time in their cars getting to and from work than any other area in Sydney so putting more people into the area only means the the already heavily polluted air to create more health problems but we must not worry because the developers are making money so we should be happy.