Mirvac responds to criticism of its proposal for residential housing on IBM site in West Pennant Hills
Community concern around a proposal for residential housing at the IBM site in West Pennant Hills is unwarranted says Mirvac. The group’s Senior development manager Amanda Blake moved to dispel a number of myths about its plans.
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Mirvac says its plan for residential housing on the old IBM site in West Pennant Hills is a win for the community, despite opposition to the plan.
Mirvac wants to rezone the site from its existing use as a business park to residential housing.
The plan would see 200 apartments and 400 houses on the site at 55 Coonara Ave which backs onto the Cumberland State Forest.
Last month the state government announced the proposal by Mirvac would have its assessment fast-tracked as part of the Planning Assessment Acceleration Scheme, despite the Hills Shire Council voting in November last year not to recommend it.
Since news of the fast-track there have been a number of protests at the Mirvac site.
Hills Mayor Michelle Byrne has described the proposal as “inappropriate for the area”due to environmental, traffic and congestion concerns.
But Mirvac says there is a lot of “misinformation” about the planning proposal in the community.
Senior development manager Amanda Blake says she wants to make it clear to the community Mirvac has no intention of destroying the forest.
“We are not destroying the forest, you can see from the historic images, that from day one we recognised all the remnant forest was so special so all the building and any bushfire zones we need are outside that remnant forest,” she said.
Mirvac also rejected criticism regarding noise and transport.
“It is really an unusual situation where you have got a huge business park and you are actually putting back something that generates a lot less cars,” she said.
“In this case we are going from 3000 workers down to 1200 residents so the traffic by all of our modelling. is actually going to be reduced.”
If approved later this month Mirvac says there is no timeline for the project.
“This is just the first approval so if we get a good result on June 18 it means the map will change colour (rezoning from business to residential) and then we will have to submit development applications for the actual houses and apartments,” Ms Blake said.
“We hope to get those development applications by the end of the year.”
Mirvac purchased the property in 2010 as a commercial property with IBM as the primary tenant.
The developer attempted to re-lease the building following IBM’s relocation to the CBD but say they were unsuccessful in finding another tenant.
In mid-2015 Mirvac commenced discussions with the Hills Shire Council regarding the proposed rezoning of the site.
The final determination of the rezoning proposal is the responsibility of the state government. A result is expected to be by June 18.
Mirvac says if the State Government rejects their proposal it make look to sell the site.