Oak Tree expansions reach final stage

Work planned for growing Warwick retirement village could see Wood St involved in construction.

DEVELOPMENT: Warwick Oak Tree Retirement Village submitted pans to build a footpath to Westside.

A substantial expansion of a Warwick retirement village will soon be resident-ready, with the “final” stages of construction now under way.

A 10-villa expansion of the Warwick Oak Tree village has been ongoing since 2009, but two new development applications would see the space provide easier access to Westside Shopping Centre via a Wood St footpath.

A 1.8m wide footpath will be constructed between Oak Tree and Wood St, stopping in front of the shopping centre on the northern side of the street.

Oak Tree will be connected via another O’Leary St footpath.

The footpath was part of Oak Tree’s conditional approval.

However, developers unsuccessfully lobbied for the condition to be removed in 2019 due to a “lack of safety”.

“Across the road, the footpath ends almost immediately after the road kerb, meaning the

footpath conditioned provides no connection to the shopping centre and effectively leads to nowhere,” it read.

“Were the footpath to be constructed, it would propose a crossing opportunity at the

bend of a four (4) lane national highway (Cunningham Highway) and very close to the intersection with Clarke St.

“This does not represent a safe location for crossing.”

Plans for the Westside footpath.

The new application also submitted a plan for path access to the caravan area inside the village.

The additional projects will come at an estimated cost of $102,838.45 if both are approved.

The original application for the retirement village included 12 new villas but was eventually downgraded after resident consultation.

“Overall, the proposed changes are made in response to the knowledge and insights that have

been gained in the construction of the works so far,” the 2019 application read.

“The proposed changes seek to better reflect demand and provide space for a small communal open space area by reducing the number of villas provided in stages 9 and 10.

“(This will better support) the lifestyle preferences of residents by providing the flexibility for residents to enclose their patios and provide for storage of caravans, increase water efficiency by providing for greywater tanks, and improve the existing refuse collection arrangement.

“Importantly the following changes will have no material effect on the presentation or impact

of the development, to adjoining residents or to public land.”

Oak Tree is a 59 villa complex and this application is stage 9 in an 11 stage project.

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