Holroyd: Ambulance depot planned for 1 Crescent St
The redevelopment of a western Sydney industrial site which media and mining tycoon Kerry Stokes initially planned 1900 units for is creating another headache.
Parramatta
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A proposal to build an ambulance depot at Holroyd — where billionaire Kerry Stokes plans to develop up to 1500 units — has been labelled “ludicrous”.
Health Infrastructure proposes to build a paramedic response point, which would house a small office and two parking bays, at 1-3 Peel St.
But the site is next to 1 Crescent St where a sprawling unit complex of between 1200 and 1500 units are planned, a project Cumberland Council has opposed because of its location off the heavily-congested Woodville Rd and M4.
The ambulance depot proposal has created a fresh headache for the council, which is concerned traffic, especially for ambulances responding to emergencies, will worsen.
The Crescent St site is owned by Kerry Stokes’ company Australian Capital Equity, which used to operate industrial and mining equipment company WesTrac there.
WesTrac left Holroyd in September 2018 and is now based in Casula.
Knight Frank is leasing the 9471sq m space for industrial use.
The area was been rezoned from B5 industrial to B4 mixed use, giving the green light to the apartment complexes, where blocks will rise up to 28 storeys.
A council spokeswoman said public consultation on the site was imminent.
At a council meeting last week, Councillor Greg Cummings said an “influential” (Stokes) family initially approached him with plans for 1900 units when he was the mayor in 2015.
“That would be, as I quoted to the son of the family, the most densely populated area in the then-Holroyd and I said I had grave concerns of the residents being able to leave that area during any sort of time of peak hour,’’ he said.
He accused the property owners for “running off” to the State Government to bypass any council requirements “knowing full well how dense that proposal is”.
The council no longer has authority for the project, which was handed to the State Government.
Cr Cummings said the Stokes’ family willingness to reduce units from 1900 to 1500 was “small compensation because I’d still hate to think how many vehicles are going to have to try to get in and out of that development from … a single driveway”.
Cr Paul Garrard called for the matter to go before the Health Minister before the council negotiated a 10-year lease for the depot to run on the site.
“We all know that there’s no access out of that site other than using Crescent St that runs up beside of it,’’ Cr Garrard said.
“We already know that it’s a bottleneck at the moment. I think we need to get the message to the government to highlight the fact that this emergency response point should be somewhere else.’’
Deputy Mayor Eddy Sarkis said the site was a poor choice for ambulances which already encountered traffic woes when worshippers attended Friday prayers nearby.
“The congestion that’s there from Friday prayers, whether it’s illegal or not ... is ludicrous at the moment,’’ he said.
Paramedics are already grappling with traffic in the area.
The RMS rejected Health Infrastructure’s request to allow ambulances to turn right on to Woodville Rd from Crescent St so it could tackle the “blind corner’’.
But last month, Health Infrastructure successfully sought the council’s consent to adjust parking on Merrylands Rd in peak times so access from Crescent St to Woodville Rd would be easier.
The council endorsed the ambulance depot but general manager Hamish McNulty will write to Health Infrastructure to outline the potential constraints of the site.
AEC did not respond to questions.