Hills Council hit out at State Government, call for Planning Department to accelerate plans for the Showground Precinct
THE Hills Council is calling on the State Government to accelerate its plans for Showground station, so it can begin devising a masterplan for the rapidly expanding region.
Hills Shire
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THE Showground precinct’s transformation is at the top of the agenda for Hills Shire Council.
The council is calling on the State Government to accelerate its plans for the station so it can begin devising a masterplan for the rapidly expanding region.
Hills councillor Ryan Tracey said the state government’s Showground Station precinct plan was made available for community consultation on December 7, 2015 to February 28, 2016 and had yet to be finalised.
“Residents that live around the precinct want to know what their area is going to look like and see how the new precinct would impact them,” Cr Tracey said. “There is so much uncertainty across the region surrounding this project and residents have had to play a waiting game with the State Government.
“We are in a partnership with the State Government to finalise the plan and the trains aren't that far away, so it is time that residents received some certainty — they want to know what the final plans are for this precinct.”
Hills Shire Mayor Michelle Byrne told the Times that a masterplan for the Showground recreational precinct was a top priority for this term of council.
“We need to begin investigating what we will do with community facilities at the Showground precinct as one of our first priorities of this new council,” she said.
“The Showground precinct is becoming an increasingly important site for the community because of the high-density and growth occurring around the area.
”This will be a second satellite hub for the community, filled with recreational outdoor space and community centres.”
Cr Byrne said she was determined to see the area filled with community and recreational facilities, while providing a home for existing community groups.
“We want to get more use out of the Showground precinct, so we need to look at the development of playgrounds, water play and other recreational activities,” she said.
“Council want this to be an area of leisure and open space recreational precinct for residents, so it is important that we start looking at these opportunities as soon as possible.
“We need to start being more proactive when it comes to planning for future precincts because this is not only existing residents that use the Showground precinct on a regular basis, but for new residents moving to the shire as well.”
The Hills Shire Council set aside $1 million to masterplan the Showground. A report from the Hills Shire Council to the State Government said key components of the proposal for the Showground Station precinct include higher scale residential apartments ranging from 16 to 20 storeys in height and a centre on Carrington Rd to provide up to 10,000sq m of shops and services.
A Planning Department spokeswoman said the department has been working with the council to deliver the draft plans for these precincts.
“The Department progressed the draft plans for Showground Precinct, based on a negotiated outcome agreed in principle between the NSW Chief Planner and the Hills Shire Council,” the spokeswoman said.
“The draft plans were ready for finalisation, however in response to a request from council the finalisation process was deferred. The Council has recently raised new matters, which the Department is now reviewing.
“The forecast date for finalisation of the Showground precinct remains uncertain due to the Department’s commitment to listening to all stakeholders and assessing the revised Council position.”
Commuter concerns
DESPITE the looming completion of the Sydney Metro Castle Hill station, residents are only learning now that there will be no parking facilities, Robyn Preston said.
The Hills Shire councillor called for the council and the State Government to work together to identify possible satellite parking locations across the community.
“Residents think it is a natural happening that you drive to a train station and that Castle Hill station will have a large carpark but that is not the case,” she said.
Cr Preston said the parking at Samantha Riley Drive, where residents could access buses, was filled by 6.30am.
“How are we going to cope when we can’t provide enough parking for buses now?” she said.
Cr Preston said there was a lack of identifiable land for parking use across the Hills and called for the government to begin the conversation “before it’s too late”.
Cr Tony Hay said the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils analysed several scenarios for parking across the Sydney Metro when he was the council representative.
“However, we were always overridden by the Transport Department who have gone with a design that, in our belief, was underestimating the usage needs across the system by about 80 per cent.
A Transport for NSW spokesman said the State Government would deliver 4000 commuter car parking spaces when metro rail services start in 2019 — 1000 more than originally proposed following community feedback.
“Transport for NSW prioritises the provision of commuter carparks based on whether the proposed location is an origin or a destination location, demand/patronage, and the type and frequency of public transport service levels at each location,” the spokesman said.
Spaces plan
Showground Station — 600 spaces
Cudgegong Road Station — 1000 spaces
Kellyville Station — 1200 spaces;
Cherrybrook Station — 400 spaces
Bella Vista Station — 800 spaces.