Council raise inconsistencies in St Joseph’s Baulkham Hills proposal
A MULTI-MILLION dollar planning proposal and masterplan for 110 townhouses and 270 apartments on land next to the St Joseph’s Centre in Baulkham Hills has been knocked back by the Hills Shire Council.
Hills Shire
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A PLANNING proposal and masterplan for 380 homes in Baulkham Hills has been knocked back by The Hills Shire Council — due to a range of inconsistencies and impacts on the community.
The proposal requested the rezoning of land next to the St Joseph’s Centre for Reflective Living at 64 MacKillop Drive, to part medium and part high density residential, public recreation and retain existing low density residential.
It also planned the increase of maximum building height and modification of the heritage maps to allow a residential masterplanned community.
A $51 million concept masterplan for the site proposed 110 medium density townhouses and 270 apartments with a mix of one-, two- and three-bedrooms across eight residential flat buildings.
The prime real estate was bought by Chinese development company Aqualand and was one of the biggest plots of available land in the area.
Hills Shire councillors voted to refuse the planning proposal proceed to gateway determination due to inconsistencies with the State Government Corridor Strategy and the Hills Corridor Strategy through excessive built form and growth projections.
Councillor Alan Haselden said the proposal was contrary to extensive strategic analysis already undertaken as part of recently approved master planning, which “achieves a more appropriate outcome and has greater consideration for existing infrastructure capacity”.
“The proposal fails to adequately address the demand for additional local infrastructure or provide a significant community benefit to justify the increased yield on the site from the previous master plan,” Cr Haselden said.