South dural suburb development delayed until New Line Rd and other road capacity increased

Community groups and local politicians views about a plan to build a new suburb at South Dural range from tepid support to total rejection.

Representatives of action groups against development at South Dural. Picture: Jake McCallum

Community groups and local politicians views about a plan to build a new suburb at South Dural range from tepid support to total rejection.

The Hornsby Mayor and Berowra federal MP both said they support some development on the land bounded by New Line Rd and Hastings Rd while the state Hornsby MP and local residents groups said the current proposal is neither “acceptable nor viable”.

Berowra federal MP Julian Leeser told Hornsby Council “a development of some kind on this site is appropriate”, but it should be lower density housing.

Hornsby Mayor Steve Russell said once the issues with road capacity in the area are dealt with the other issues are “not insurmountable”.

“The road needs to be addressed for the proposal to progress, ”Cr Russell said.

The South Dural development area with sections of native forest shown.

Hornsby state MP Matt Kean said the proposal for 2900 dwellings should be rejected and “any future proposals show a greater appreciation for the local character of the area and the need for significant investments supporting infrastructure”.

Residents’ Infrastructure and Planning Alliance (RIPA) spokeswoman Jacqui Goddard said

the plan was “inadequate in many ways” but still hasn’t been rejected despite about 5000 submissions mostly objecting to it.

“The mayor’s still saying it’s a logical place to be developing but we need to sort out road infrastructure,” Ms Goddard said. “We don’t see how the roads could be upgraded to allow a development of this size.”

The community groups RIPA represent also have divergent views with some against any development and others hoping to save some rural land while ensuring proper planning for inevitable future developments.

A South Dural artists impression.

Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Greens spokeswoman Emma Heyde said Hornsby mayor Steve Russell characterising “massive community opposition to high intensity residential development at South Dural as simply a call for road widening in the area” was “disappointing”.

“Everyone hates the South Dural development not just because of the traffic but because it’s a disaster for the environment, for local services and for rural land,” Ms Heyde said. “People don’t want to be held to ransom that improved infrastructure can only be provided if there is even more development.”

A Hornsby Council spokesman said management of the bush area in South Dural was “a key issue they had not resolved yet”.

“Consideration was being given to the advantages of either retaining the bushland in private ownership or transferring it to council,” he said. “A definitive position had not been determined by Council at the time it resolved to discontinue its evaluation.”

A public meeting about South Dural drew 600 people to Cherrybrook Community Centre last year.

Joint venture developers, Lyon Group Australia and Folkestone proposed to build a new suburb called South Dural in five stages between 2019 and 2034, retaining 62 hectares of native forest along Georges Creek.

Lyon Group spokesman Mike Milliken said it seems “completely unreasonable that the South Dural proposal should have to pay for the entire roads upgrade”.

“Developers cannot be expected to fund all infrastructure costs ... we are certainly proposing to fund our fair share to improve the area,” Mr Milliken said.