Twenty-storey towers in new vision for Wentworthville Town centre

A new supermarket, public plaza and apartments could revitalise Wentworthville’s town centre but residents say it will destroy the village feel of their suburb.

Concept images of Wentworthville Mall upgrade at 42-44 Dunmore St.

FADED shopfronts replaced by large, glistening windows and two-storey buildings replaced by 20-storey towers.

That’s the new vision for Wentworthville set to reinvigorate the ageing centre — but residents are questioning what is in it for them.

The planning proposal seeks to create a new heart for the Wentworthville town centre with 480 apartments and 9700sq m of retail and commercial space including a full-line supermarket.

Artist impressions of a public plaza on Pritchard St.

Maximum building heights would rise to about 20 storeys fronting Dunmore St and about eight storeys fronting ­Pritchard St East.

As part of the proposal, an open square and pedestrian link would be built, but numerous submissions to the council have expressed that the perceived benefit of these spaces was not enough to negate the influx of residents.

“To erect eight and 20-storey residential towers on this site is ludicrous and an example of ridiculous overdevelopment,” resident Cheryl Lloyd said. “The building will be too invasive and disruptive for the existing neighbours during construction and upon completion.”

Wentworthville Mall was upgraded in 2013 but is set for a complete overhaul under the new plan.

A key factor in the project was the provision of a full-line supermarket, with the area currently serviced only by a Supa IGA.

Locals fear the development could come at a loss to existing tenancies.

“The mall will have a ­myriad of brand-new shops catering to all possible requirements of shoppers, to the detriment of the main street retailers,” resident Margaret Chapman wrote in her submission.

“It favours one large developer and neglects the small businesses in the shopping strip, which was not ­envisaged by the strategy.”

Towers of up to twenty storeys are proposed on the Dunmore St site.

The Wentworthville Mall site is the largest land holding in single ownership in the core of Wentworthville and a key cornerstone for any stimulation or renewal of the town’s centre.

Former Holroyd councillor Lisa Lake spoke of her concern that the proposals were being considered in a piecemeal fashion.

“Twenty-storey buildings are out of character, given surrounding heritage items, narrow streets, parking and traffic issues and will have a detrimental visual impact on the village character,” she said.

At the first Cumberland Council meeting of 2017, administrator Viv May deferred action on the plan to conduct an independent valuation of the true benefit to the community.

‘There is a critical need for a much more detailed and specific policy on Voluntary Planning Agreements which must be considered … so that the true value of proposed community benefits can be more robustly and transparently considered,” he said.