Telopea master plan: Development drive may force out long-time residents
Residents fear the “beautiful, leafy character” of Telopea will be trampled by a population explosion and high-rise buildings under the State Government’s development drive for their suburb.
Residents fear the “beautiful, leafy character” of Telopea will be trampled by a population explosion of up to 10,000 new residents under the State Government’s master plan for their beloved suburb.
Sue and Mark Dodds have lived in Telopea for 35 years, raising two children and racking up many “wonderful family memories”.
However, they are now seeing their suburb suffering under the weight of more development and congested roads — and that’s well before the government puts in place the Telopea master plan, which includes 4500 new homes and rezoning to allow for building heights of up to 70m.
“It’s a horrible thing, but we’re now considering moving out,” Mr Dodds said. “We moved here six months after we got married and just fell in love with the place.
“But it’s going to be an absolute nightmare with thousands of extra people here. It won’t be a functioning suburb and we’ll lose a lot of the beautiful, leafy character.
“You can’t just pile in all these people and not have the infrastructure to support it. Our roads are already congested.”
NSW Planning Minister Anthony Roberts said Telopea would become a more vibrant community with better transport connections, upgraded parks and greater choice of housing under the plan.
“Rezoning will bring to life the master plan for Telopea … with up to 4500 homes, including up to 1000 social and affordable homes, to be provided over the next 20 years,” he said in the week before Christmas, when he released the finalised plan.
He also said $5 million would be spent on upgrading Sturt Park and Acacia Park.
However, Labor Planning spokeswoman Tania Mihailuk said the “family-friendly feel” of Telopea would be destroyed by the government’s plans.
“I know people who have been here for many years. They come to live in an area like this because they want to be reasonably close to the city, but still far away enough from the congestion in the city,” Ms Mihailuk said.
“What’s happened here is that the local council and community have been sidelined out of this process. They might as well rename this suburb because it won’t be Telopea any more. I can understand why the residents are so distressed here.
“This is why Labor is committed to scrapping planned precincts, because they sideline councils and the local community.”
Indeed, Parramatta’s housing targets are among the highest across Greater Sydney, with 21,650 new dwellings to be place by 2021.
But Ms Mihailuk said that, if elected, Labor would “send the Greater Sydney Commission back to the drawing board” with the housing targets.
For Mr Dodds, he wants the Planning Minister to “come here and try living in the congestion and see how you like it”.
“And it’s only going to get worse under your plan for our suburb,” Mr Dodds said.
SUBURB ‘SLAUGHTERED’
Parramatta councillors have delivered a stinging rebuke to the State Government’s vision for Telopea.
Deputy Mayor Michelle Garrard said the rezoning was not supported by the broader community.
“There was a lack of consultation and council wasn’t advised prior to the rezoning announcement,” she said at last week’s council meeting.
“There’s no additional open space and not enough adequate parking. Those streets are already narrow.”
Fellow Dundas ward councillor Pierre Esber added: “We have a State Government which is overriding LEPs (Local Environmental Plan) without us knowing about it.
“Arrogance is creeping into this government … and it is being felt out there in the community.”
Epping ward councillor Donna Davis, who has lived in the area for the past 23 years, accused the government of putting in the Telopea plans “by stealth”.
“When everyone was out buying Christmas presents for their loved ones and attending end-of-year functions, this was gazetted without any of (council’s) staff knowing about it,” Cr Davis said.
“There is going to be high-density (housing) from the corner of Adderton and Kissing Point roads, all the way through Telopea … off Evans Road down near Sophie Street (and) there is not an additional blade of glass.”
Independent Epping ward councillor Lorraine Wearne said Parramatta LGA was being “slaughtered”, with the government turning it into a “ghetto”.
“I would like to hold to account the politicians who are now out there destroying areas in the name of ‘we must build more’,” Cr Wearne said.
“(The government) took controls away from us. Now what’s happened? We’re putting up buildings where the cladding’s got to be removed and where there’s holes in walls because the State knows better.”
Parramatta Liberal MP Geoff Lee said the rezoning of Telopea was a “major milestone”.
“We are a step closer to a new era for Telopea with contemporary homes, modern community facilities, a new town centre and enhanced open spaces, along with 7 ½ minute light rail services operating by 2023,” he said.
“While there have been plans in the past, none have stacked up. This is a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to design a community that we all want to live in for generations to come.”
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