Residents criticise Westmead South draft masterplan

‘Ugly’ streetscapes, undervalued properties and polarising heritage issues. Concerned residents fear their suburb could become more crowded than Beijing but others say development is a ‘no-brainer’.

The area south of Westmead train line is forecast to be home to 25,000 people in the next 10 years.

A group of Westmead residents has hit out at a masterplan that will drive up the population by 21,000 on the suburb’s southern side and bump up density so high it is forecast to be more crowded than Beijing over the next 10 years.

The bold Westmead South draft masterplan is expected to generate 6600 more homes in the neighbourhood and push the number of people south of the train station from 7500 to 28,000 with many living in apartment blocks as tall as 25 storeys.

Cumberland Council voted to progress the contentious plan, which will next go to the Planning Department for gateway determination.

But the public is upset over inconsistent height limits in the same streets and divided over heritage listing sections of the neighbourhood, where the western Sydney metro will begin.

An army of residents vented concerns with the masterplan at the council’s meeting last week, when a large contingent called for more uniform height limits so their land won’t be undervalued when developers come knocking.

The southern side of Westmead is filled with old homes.

At Grand Ave, the houses closest to the railway line on the north side would be cleared to make way for towers between 15 and 25 storeys.

But on the opposite side, building heights would be capped at four storeys. Originally it was eight levels but lowered to four after the heritage consultant’s advice.

The revised four-storey limit frustrates residents such a married father-of-two Mohan Ayyar, who would pocket a lot less if he sold his family double-storey house compared with his neighbours across the road.

He implored the council for “equity” in building heights so the street would not look uneven.

“This not only will make the streetscape extremely ugly but severely disadvantage property owners on the southern side,’’ he said.

Mohan Ayyar wants planning rules to allow units greater than four storeys on both sides of Grand Ave Westmead.

A few doors down on Grand Ave, former Holroyd Mayor Mark Pigram slammed the strategy, which would mean Westmead South would bear half the burden of the state government’s 12,000-dwelling target for Cumberland.

“Westmead South is 1.3sq km – and they’re going to put 25,000 people in it,’’ he said.

“That gives Westmead South a population density per square kilometre of 19,230 people.

“The population density for Westmead South exceeds the population per square kilometre of Cape Town, Hong Kong, New York, Seattle, San Francisco, Washington, Beijing, London, Wellington, Moscow, Berlin, Rome Quebec, Montreal.’’

Mark Pigram doubts the transformation of his suburb will be executed well.

Mr Pigram and his wife Anne raised their now-adult three sons on Grand Ave where they paid $120,000 for the house in 1988. He estimates it would sell for up to $3.5m now.

He accepts growth is inevitable but accused the government of poor planning and urged it to “do it right”.

“I love Westmead, it’s been my home essentially all my life,’’ he said while on his front porch.

“I accept what’s going to happen but I don’t want to leave the area or go to my grave thinking it’s a jungle.

“All I can see is an absolute planning mess come out of it.

“Westmead’s got to grow – nobody denies that – but it’s how you go about it and what the end product will be.’’

Mark Pigram surveys plans to bump up housing south of the train line.

However, another Grand Ave resident who declined to be named because his neighbours might criticise him, supports a development boom.

“It makes an abundance of sense,’’ he said.

“We’ve got a huge housing shortage in the state and the only way you’re going to fix that is to build it around public transport. It’s a no-brainer.’’

He said he was willing to move to another house in the vicinity, Northmead or North Parramatta but does not believe the changes will start soon.

“I love the place but I’m rational too,’’ he said.

“You can’t have your cake and eat it too.’’

Units are proposed to be capped at four storeys on the left side of Grand Ave but buildings on the right could soar to 25 levels.

Further up Grand Ave, Crusa Mok wants unit blocks to reach eight storeys.

“Four-storey buildings will certainly reduce development potential of my house and also reduce the value of my property as a house,’’ she said.

If she stays put, she will be confronted by loss of privacy “overshadowed by 15-storey buildings on the other side” and more traffic noise.

“I do worry that I may not be able to cope with these changes as I’m used to living in a low-density area with a quiet environment, with a lot of sunshine and privacy,’’ she said.

At Houison St, Tony Hanrahan is firmly in the opposition camp and wants to remain in the same house he and his 93-year-old mother Marie have called home since 1972.

Tony Hanrahan has lived at Houison St, Westmead, for more than 50 years.

“I think they’re (the government) making the western Sydney people suffer for mistakes over the years,’’ he said.

“You’ll find a lot of people in more expensive areas won’t have to suffer.

“They could have done this gradually instead of ‘bang, bang, bang’ and forced it down everybody’s throats.

“And it’s just about bringing people from overseas and most of the people overseas end up delivering pizzas.’’

Heritage resistance

The community is split on heritage conservation areas in Westmead South.

The number of storeys for the south side of Grand Ave was cut from eight to four after a council heritage consultant’s recommendation.

This was because it backs on to the Toohey’s Palm Estate conservation area at Moree Ave, which is lined with California bungalows and was a planned subdivision in 1925.

It was defined by the planting of palm trees along the street, giving it a unified character.

The council papers also recommend a new heritage conservation area to be established at Church Ave.

Palm trees at the Toohey’s Palm Estate conservation area at Moree Ave, Westmead.

St Barnabas’ Anglican Church at Westmead.

St Barnabas’ Anglican Church warden Stephen Mullette opposed the heritage listing of the Hawkesbury Rd church, which is more than 100 years old.

He said activities such as children’s play time hosted up to 400 people a week, and the buildings were at the end of their useful life with concrete cancer, water penetration and problems with floor foundations.

“ … Having a small, heritage-listed building surrounded by a large development will mean that we will be separated from that community,’’ he said.

“We will not be able to develop in a way that meets the needs of our community.’’

Moree Avehomeowner Kuruparan Mahadeva wants to dump heritage listing on the street so residents have the option to sell to developers.

“I’ve also lived in Wentworth Point where it’s a very, very high density area,’’ he said.

“I want to see Westmead be the same.’’

Kuruparan Mahadeva wants Westmead to be full of towers like Wentworth Point.

Mr Ayyar objected to the heritage listing.

“On the large scale of things, and considering the history of the Darug people of the area, this should not impede the once-in-a-generation opportunity to make Westmead an important housing hub,’’ he said.

“This view is shared by most of my neighbours on Grand Ave.’’

But Moree Ave’s Filomena Molinaro and her husband Stephen Brancatisano, who are “proud’’ owners of a heritage house, support the conservation area.

“The significance should not be called into question,’’ Mrs Molinaro said.

“It is one of only five conservation areas listed in this LGA. It is the only remaining representation of the 1920 interwar pattern of subdivision in Westmead.

“We should not undervalue and underestimate its significance.’’

Mrs Molinaro said she supported the four-storey limit as “progress in the right direction’’ for the strategy.

Our Local Community councillor Paul Garrard blasted the plans and said just because a metro line was being built, it did not justify the development.

The Westmead metro signals a development transformation on the suburb’s south side.

“This plan effectively has 6600 new dwellings on top of the 10,600 that (Westmead) has at the moment and at 2.8 people per dwelling at the moment, one can work out that when you add the 6600 your population comes up to 28,948.

“Can Westmead withstand that many people in a suburb where the housing stock is already of quite a gentry type?’’

In a SGS consultancy report prepared for Cumberland Council, it said Westmead’s population could even reach 34,557.

Labor councillor Suman Saha is “excited” about the project in the suburb with “the largest health and education precinct in Oceania”.

“The Metro West project will also make Westmead a gateway for people living in and near Westmead to greater Sydney,’’ he said.

“Our plan for Westmead aligns with the Metro West project to ensure the best outcome for our residents now and in the future.

“This transformative plan will bring incredible opportunity and a vibrant future to our community for generations to come.’’

Despite calls to defer the strategy, the council has progressed the plan, which will next go to the Planning Department for gateway determination.

Councillors Saha, Lisa Lake, Michael Zaiter, Diane Colman, Ola Hamed, Kun Huang, Sabrin Farooqui, Glenn Elmore and Mohamad Hussein backed the plan.

Councillors who voted against it were Cr Garrard, Joseph Rahme, Eddy Sarkis, Greg Cummings, Helen Hughes and Steve Christou.