Frenchs Forest residents urge government to release town centre rezoning plans
Householders are worried that a pledge by the NSW Government to release rezoning plans for the proposed Frenchs Forest town centre before the end of the year will not be met.
Manly
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Community concerns are growing that the much-anticipated plans for a new town centre at Frenchs Forest will not be revealed by the end of the year as promised.
Issues raised about the relocation of Forest High School could derail the rezoning timetable for land close to Northern Beaches Hospital, frustrated residents now fear.
Planning Minister Rob Stokes told the Manly Daily in July that phase one of the Frenchs Forest Precinct Plan — first mooted in 2010 — would be signed off before December 31.
But concerns have been raised about whether it is safe to build the new high school on the Warringah Aquatic Centre Reserve site — a site of an old landfill dump — that contains potentially dangerous contaminants.
Residents fear that with the Christmas holiday period looming, the NSW Planning Department will use the school relocation issue as an excuse to delay putting the precinct plan on exhibition until the new year.
Householders are keen to know the extent of rezoning proposed because it effects decisions about whether they stay in the area or sell to developers.
Plans for the town centre, expected to accommodate up to 3000 new high-density dwellings, were originally set to be on public exhibition in March 2018.
One frustrated resident, who asked not be named, fired off an email to the department and Mr Stokes this week “demanding urgent confirmation that this (school relocation issue) will not affect the plan moving ahead or delay any such announcement.”
The resident questioned why the proposed site of the relocated school had now become an issue when it had been known “for years” that the site was used as a dump.
“I understand from officers in State Planning that the preparation and papers are complete and that we are just waiting an announcement which is imminent,” the resident wrote.
“This plan has been promised and its delivery pledged, ending years of resident turmoil for our community which has had to endure ongoing delay, uncertainty and disruption.”
Karingal Cres resident Tim Pace, who said he was desperate to hear if his land was being rezoned, said authorities should not use the Aquatic Reserve remediation issue as an excuse to delay plans.
“I know the government keep saying the rezoning plans will be out this year, but we’ve heard all this before,” Mr Pace said.
“People will be forgiven for being slightly sceptical. This thing has been going on for years and we are burnt out and jaded and just want a decision.”
The precinct will be developed in three stages. First the town centre, the current site of Forest High School, followed by phase two which has a 10-year timeline and then phase three which has a 10-year plus timeline.
In July Mr Stokes said he had directed the department to work as “quickly as humanly possible but it is really important that we get it right because there is an incredible opportunity here”.
In a statement this week the Education Department confirmed it was conducting a further comprehensive investigation into the Aquatic Centre site.
Planning said it was working with the Education Department and Northern Beaches Council to decide the best way to manage the remediation issue and any implications it may have on the masterplan.
“The aim is still to have the draft precinct on exhibition before the end of the year,” a spokesman said.
Mayor Michael Regan said that like many sportsfields and community infrastructure throughout Sydney, the Aquatic Centre site was the outcome of a successful rehabilitation of an expired landfill site more than 40 years ago.
“The NSW Government is aware of the history of this site and any future development would need to guarantee the health and safety of the community,” Cr Regan said.
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