Residents of Clovelly Park’s Cohen Court stood their ground after their peaceful street was nearly taken away

A vehicle connector that would see a new development meet an established suburb has been revoked, after residents banded together against the contentious project.

A dedicated group of southern suburb residents have stuck to their guns and won against a development that would drastically change their quiet little street forever.

Dianne Holmes, a long time resident to Cohen Court, said that she and many others were taken aback by a proposal to turn their quiet reserve into a road, connecting a new Tonsley housing precinct through to a cul-de-sac.

“There are 62 townhouses that use this cul-de-sac as a part of their driveway,” Ms Holmes said.

The plans for Cohen Court Reserve. Supplied by Marion Council

“What they were proposing to do was build a one-way drive through the reserve and we got wind of it through a letterbox drop back in March which didn’t tell us an awful lot.”

Dubbed as the Tonsley Vehicle connector, the development would have seen a driveway link allowing two-way traffic movements, while creating a slower speed environment and discouraging “cut through” traffic.

The current annual average daily traffic through Cohen Court is approximately 385 without the connector.

If the connector was to be built it was estimated that an additional 1040 vehicles would use the new link, resulting in a daily volume of 1425 through Cohen Court.

The area of the reserve is over 4000m2 and is home to a playground and used as an open space for townhouse residence for social activities.

Di Holmes at the Cohen Court Reserve in Clovelly Park. Pic: Emily Jarvis

“Originally the reserve was proposed to become a cycle-walk way which we are in favour of,” Ms Holmes said.

“We’re not against developing the area we just didn’t think allowing motor cars through was appropriate.”

While the dedicated team of Cohen Court knew that having the development revoked would be an uphill battle but believed in what they were fighting for a presented their case before council.

“We were given advice that the odds of us getting this voted down were pretty low but we went into it thinking, what can we really lose,” Ms Holmes said.

The plans for Cohen Court Reserve. Supplied by Marion Council

Council voted on the motion at their May meeting, revoking the development and retaining the whole of Cohen Court Reserve as an open space, with councillor Raelene Telfer moving the motion and seconded by Bruce Hull.

“I nearly fell off my chair,” Ms Holmes laughed.

“We were fighting for the people in these townhouses because some are public housing and don’t always get a say.

“Other townhouses are privately owned and were blissfully unaware that this could have happened.

“But if nothing else it’s brought the community together and we can’t thank council enough.”