Liverpool Council will consider new planning controls for boarding house proposals
Liverpool Council will consider introducing new planning controls to ensure developers take into account the local character of areas where boarding houses are proposed.
Liverpool
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Liverpool Council will consider introducing new planning controls to ensure developers take into account the local character of areas where boarding houses are proposed.
It comes amid concerns about a new development application for a two-storey boarding house with 11 rooms and basement parking in Templeton Cres at Moorebank.
Holsworthy state Liberal MP Melanie Gibbons said she would be objecting the proposal with a formal submission to the council and encouraged others to do the same.
“I will continue to fight against this and other developments like it as I believe they will negatively alter the character of our community,” Ms Gibbons said.
“I don’t believe these applications are in appropriate locations or that they will contribute in a positive way to our community. They often don’t have the infrastructure or services to make them successful either.”
Ms Gibbons called on the council to fast track its review of the Liverpool Local Environmental Plan 2008 — a framework of zoning and development controls to guide planning decisions — “so that overdevelopment is halted”.
“I would urge council to focus this review on ensuring that the single dwelling character of the community is maintained and is not taken over by developments such as apartments and boarding houses,” she said.
“We have a wonderful community — and I do not want to see it destroyed by developers looking to make a quick dollar.”
Holsworthy Labor candidate Charishma Kaliyanda met concerned residents at the weekend and said she was worried about the ability of local infrastructure to deal with a development proposing “such a significant increase in the number of people on a single block”.
“Residents mentioned issues such as poor water pressure capacity, issues with parking and traffic, as well as availability of public transport. There is also a concern around the impact a much larger structure will have on a street where most homes are single storey.
“I think it not only impacts existing residents, but also future residents if the appropriate infrastructure to support them is inadequate.”
Parts of Moorebank have been a focal point for developers in recent years due to zoning allowing for medium density residential developments.
Liverpool Council chief executive Kiersten Fishburn said new planning controls emphasising the local character of areas where boarding houses were proposed would be considered at the council’s next meeting.
In the past five years, the council has dealt with 14 applications for boarding houses, four of which are yet to be determined in Busby, Holsworthy, Liverpool and Warwick Farm.
The Holsworthy development was initially refused after significant community objection, but the determination is now under review.
Two were approved in Miller, while three in Liverpool and Miller were refused. Five others from around the local government area were withdrawn.
Moorebank Residents’ Action Group president Fiona Macnaught said options needed to be considered to provide housing affordability relief, but in appropriate locations.
“We need to explore options for those in our community who require assistance with accommodation, however that does not mean we should be placing boarding houses and apartment buildings in small residential streets, and in areas that cannot cope with the additional strain on infrastructure and services such as water pressure and transport availability.”
She said the group will study the proposal and liaise with others in the community to identify concerns.