Projects in the pipeline as population grows faster than initially predicted

More than $216 million worth of apartments could soon spring up along Canterbury Rd as the strip continues to be a hive of develop­ment.

Local developer Joe Alha out the front of one of trhee developments he has built along Canterbury Road. Picture: Melvyn Knipe

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More than $216 million worth of apartments could soon spring up along Canterbury Rd as the strip continues to be a hive of develop­ment.

Last week, Department of Planning and Environment revealed Canterbury will shoulder a large portion of Sydney’s population growth.

Sydney’s population is expected to leap by more than 2.1 million in the next 20 years – about 170,000 people more than was expected two years ago.

Of those 170,000, 35,900 are expected to reside in Canterbury, with Canterbury-Bankstown’s population to swell to 502,850 by 2036.

Canterbury Rd will house many of these future residents.

Canterbury Rd Corridor developments. Graphic: News Corp

In Punchbowl, an $86 million development will provide 297 apartments after a six-storey complex was approved, with conditions, last month.

A $32 million proposal in Roselands for three towers with 110 apartments is under assessment, while also in Roselands, a $18.5 million eight-storey apartment block is on notification until October 4.

The Joint Regional Planning Panel will meet to decide on September 29 whether to approve a six-storey apartment building in Belmore with 183 apartments worth $55 million.

Another building in Canterbury – six storeys tall, with 102 units and 207 car spaces, and worth $24.5 million has been approved.

Local developer Joseph Alha, owner of J Group, believes development will rejuvenate the area and rejects the arguments of critics who are fighting large building projects. Mr Alha grew up in Canterbury and was the first developer to build along Canterbury Rd under the new Local Environment Plan.

Three of his buildings now stand along Canterbury Rd and he said people needed to be “open-minded about where we’re heading as a city, as a country”.

“I can’t understand why anyone would oppose job creation and lower home prices for the renewal of old suburbs and new generations,” Mr Alha said.

“If you’ve got new dwellings, you’ve got a new class of people, you’ve got more money pumped into the area, more street lights, more vibrant areas, and more people around will bring down criminal activity.”

Former Canterbury councillor Barbara Coorey said the pace of development had skyrocketed since the new Local Environment Plan was enacted in 2013.

Ms Coorey said the surge in population had meant developments had been “dumped on Canterbury”.

“It’s like an out-of-control train hurtling down Canterbury Rd at a dangerous pace,” she said.

“It’s going from east to west and God help the residents in between.”

Ms Coorey, like many community action groups, is asking where the infrastructure is.

“I don’t have a problem with development, but there has been a lack of consultation and procedural fairness,” she said.

“The rate and scale of the number of units coming through – it’s going to change the area forever.

“Where’s the infrastructure being provided?”

Mr Alha too said this is something that needed addressing.

“No, there isn’t (infrastructure), I won’t say there is,” he said.

“That needs to be taken into consideration, studied by relevant authorities.

“It’s common sense – (if) you’ve got more population, your hospitals and schools need to grow.”