Locals split on plan for Rosny Hill

THE  proponents of a hotel and sanctuary dev­elopment on Rosny Hill are hoping to involve Bon­orong Wildlife Sanctuary in their plans

THE  proponents of a hotel and sanctuary dev­elopment on Rosny Hill are hoping to involve Bon­orong Wildlife Sanctuary in their plans to protect and care for native wildlife.

At a public meeting at the Rosny Park Bowls Club last night, architect Robert Morris-Nunn told about 170 people that a discussion between his firm, Hunter Developments, and Bonorong had been positive.

“The idea is to actively get involved in the management of both the flora and the fauna and to do that in as honourable way as we can,” he said.

Views on Hunter Dev­elopments’ multi-million-dollar proposal of “pod” accommodation, a restaurant, conference centre and wildlife sanctuary were mixed.

“It’s hideous and doesn’t blend in with the surrounding areas. It’s going to create a traffic nightmare,” resident Graeme Short, who has lived near Rosny Hill for 70 years, said.

An artist’s impression of the Rosny Hill development proposal by Robert Morris-Nunn.

But teacher Rodney Hanson said he would love to see the hill developed.

“We need something up there, we’ve been talking about it for years,” he said.

“This is smack bang in the middle of people’s back yards,” another resident said.

Something many people did agree on, however, was concern about the additional traffic the development would bring.

Prof Morris-Nunn said a preliminary study showed an additional 400 vehicles would use the road to the reserve each day.

Some residents raised concerns about the costs of services, such as water, sewerage and electricity to the site.

Clarence Mayor Doug Chipman said the council had received complaints for many years about the “burnouts” and rubbish on Rosny Hill, and the state of the bushland.

He said the cost of managing the reserve to the standard it should be managed was too high for the council to meet alone, which was why it had encouraged private development in part of the reserve.