Council to raise Chelsea Gardens and Coomungie concerns with Premier
Wingecarribee Shire Council will write to the Premier of NSW, the Hon Gladys Berejiklian expressing concerns about the rezoning of the Chelsea Gardens and Coomungie properties to enable residential development.
Concerns were raised following a decision by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment to rezone the properties located on the south-east outskirts of Moss Vale from rural to residential land.
Amendment 43 to the Wingecarribee Local Environment Plan 2010 (WLEP) was confirmed by the Department on Friday 27 October 2017.
The amendment also includes an area on Yarrawa Road which has been rezoned to B1 Neighbourhood Centre as well as pockets of recreation-zoned land across the site.
The approved rezoning allows for variable lot sizes of 450m2, 600m2 and 2000m2.
The decision to write to the Premier was put forward by Councillor Larry Whipper at Wednesday evening’s Ordinary Meeting of Council (8 November 2017) and subsequently passed by a majority of his fellow councillors.
Councillors will detail concerns in the letter about the processes employed by the Department of Planning and Environment which they argue contradicts Council’s established position in relation to the rezoning of the two aforementioned properties.
Other issues to be raised in the letter will include concerns of the strain such a significant development would place on existing infrastructure within and surrounding the Moss Vale township.
Similar concerns were voiced by a delegation from Council, which included Mayor Halstead, who met with advisers to the Minister for Planning as recently as September this year on the matter. At the time the Minister declined to discuss the rezoning matter with Council representatives.
Part 6 of WLEP 2010 now requires that a Development Control Plan for the site be prepared which will address such matters as the provision of water and sewer infrastructure, roads and traffic management and environmental considerations.