Three years after being lodged with council, the Menangle Park East Village housing proposal has received the green light.
The proposal that got the nod at Campbelltown Council’s last meeting of the year is a modified version of the original plan.
It includes an increase in open space from 2.4 hectares to 4.1 hectares, and a reduction in the maximum height of apartment towers from 6-8 storeys to 3-6 storeys.
The total number of dwellings has also been reduced from 2,073 to 1,907.
It also now offers a better design as well as a reduction in the number of proposed terraces.
These modifications to the original proposal didn’t sway the Greens councillors, Jayden Rivera and Teo Triebels, both of whom voted against it when it was put to the vote by Mayor Darcy Lound.
“While I accept we’re in a housing crisis, and need new housing, we need infrastructure to back it up,’’ Cr Rivera told the council during debate.
“We don’t have that here with this development.
“The trains to Menangle run every hour or so, and delays are frequent because the line is not electrified, and the station platform is very small.
“These people in these 2000 new homes would have to wait a long time to use public transport.
“The closest public school is 12 minutes away by car or 4- to 50 minutes by bus.
“In its current form I cannot support this,’’ Cr Rivera said.
Cr Cameron McEwan supported the modified Menangle Park East Village proposal.
“It will be a welcome addition to what will become a thriving suburb,’’ he said.
“It also sets a good standard for other developers to follow.’’
Mayor Lound also supported the development.
“We need to send a message that we support more housing, but it has to be a good development,’’ he said.
Menangle Park East Village was first considered by Council at its meeting in November 2022.
It was recommended that it be rejected, but it was instead deferred, and returned to council in its modified form in June.
After the vote in December, the proposal will be considered by the State Government.
Even if it gets a go ahead there it will be years before work starts on the first apartment tower.
That’s what they should have put all through Macarthur Heights. Tall apartment blocks. At least that’s next door to an electrified train station, major shopping centre and a university?!
The infrastructure is not here – trains run every hour to Macarthur and then you have to get a City Rail train – dont oversell this. The roads are at capacity, we have some of the worse roads (their condition) in the State, not just the Wollondilly area. We generally have single lane roads, currrently with all the estates in the area, you cannot have 2 cars pass each other due to number of vehicles parked on the road/path area as well as caravans parked in the street – this is just ridiculous for the area in its current state.
Just a tiny update, Jacqui.
1. Southern Highlands trains are every half hour and all stations to Campbelltown.
Note the half hour service is the only service at this stage that stops at Menangle.
2. Southern Highlands trains express service runs every hour and only selected stations to Campbelltown, with occasional services to and from Central, usually one service in the morning to Central and one in the afternoon from Central.
The Southern Highlands service will be upgraded to the new trains that will service Sydney/Newsastle, Sydney/Lithgow, Sydney Wollongong. See link below
https://transportnsw.info/select-route/train.png
There was discussions about 10 years ago where an increase of services for the half houly service when needed. This was part of the DA for the Menangle development.
Electrify the current train line from MacArthur to Menangle.
Keep hundreds of cars off the road.
It doesn’t matter if the trains run every half hour, hour or Pancake Tuesday. People will still drive to work. How will they get anywhere with the state of Menangle Road? At best it is a country lane. Yea there is the interchange outside Broughton which may go into the M5 but can you imagine the road block to get onto it. Has anyone considered that the river floods on a regular basis and that the bridge is inadequate? There are no schools, no shops and Campbelltown Hosp will not cope with the influx. I agree with the Greens there should be no development without infrastructure. The council has enough trouble trying to look after the main part of Campbelltown without adding to its woes. There is garbage strewn along streets, St Johns Road is growing a lovely weed garden. There is an unfinished block of units in Broughton St. Nature strips have not been mown and now it wants more housing. Madness!!!
Releasing Menangle without the train service electrification is poor planning. When the original release of land for the first stage of Campbelltown development there was a push from developers to allow lots to be sold without basic services but the council of the day resisted and eventually made it compulsory for developers had to provide all services including for the first time underground power, and the land sold faster despite the increased costs.
With Menangle if developers were made to make a contribution to the railways as they do for sewer and other services they would increase their cost but with better prices and quicker sales get bigger profits particularly with lots being only 300sqm.