An application for the staged development of two residential flat buildings on the corner of Mimosa Ave and Village Rd in Saratoga has attracted over 70 submissions to council and over 400 signatures to an online petition.
Residents opposed to the development application (DA) have argued that it is not in keeping with the character of the village of Saratoga. The developer and Central Coast Council are currently involved in a Land and Environment Court conciliation process over the DA. The community has called on council CEO, Mr Rob Noble, to urgently review any agreements being made between council and the developer and consideration of the correct usage of Zoning 2B.
They also want council to ensure any proposed development on the land meets local character rules. “As residents, we are not privy to the negotiations being made and have no input or say in what happens to our suburb,” said Ms Lorna Walters, who lives in Saratoga and also owns a property in Mimosa Ave. “We are concerned that the process is only reviewing the easily measurable issues such as height and setbacks, a multitude of which are not met by the development application,” Ms Walters said.
“There are many other, harder to measure issues, such as view sharing, land usage requirements for neighbourhood centres and desired character contained in the Development Control Plan (DCP) and Local Environmental Plan (LEP) that are of great importance and should result in this development application being rejected,” she said. “This development is completely at odds with the character of our village of Saratoga.
“It will result in nearly every tree on the property needing to be removed and replaced by a concrete block. “Every planning document for the council states that developments need to meet character statements set by Council including leafy, non-uniform buildings and retail usage for this property and these requirements are not met. “There were over 70 submissions to this development made by residents, nearly all of whom mentioned the character of our village and that this type of development will have a detrimental impact and bring no benefits to the village character of our suburb.
“The developer is trying to fi t so many apartments in the block that some of them don’t meet sunlight requirements, something you would expect in a major city development, not our small village.” Ms Walters said at a recent conciliation meeting held to consider view sharing, the council town planner advised residents that the development met height restrictions. “We cannot comprehend how this is the case when the proposal is for three storeys and the DCP residential fl at buildings (3.3.3.1.2) states only two storey developments are allowed,” she said. “The length of this extends for over 71 metres, surely something that needs consideration over and above the standard building rules and regulations.
“This is not compatible with the predominant pattern across the surrounding neighbourhood. “We are also concerned that minimum setbacks below the DCP and SEPP 65 requirements will be agreed to. “Our views will be obliterated by this development,” she said. Ms Walters said an official photographer gathering evidence as part of the current Land and Environment Court process placed his camera tripod on top of a barbecue to take photos of the site. “This would show less impact than a person standing or sitting at normal height.
“The town planner also advised that all the developer had to do to meet the requirement that the land was no longer required for community use and was suitable for 100 per cent residential usage was to submit a small paragraph in their application. “This makes us feel that our community is receiving no consideration at all in this process. “We are currently experiencing a large growth in young families, as experienced in the growth of the local primary school, and the elderly. “In the last few years we have had a new dental practice, medical centre and music education centre move to the shops. “There is no child care centre is Saratoga or other health care services such as podiatrists. “How can a small paragraph to tick a box write off any future requirements of our village community?”
Email, Jul 29, 2016 Lorna Walters, Saratoga Website, Aug 9, 2016 Central Coast Council DA tracking DA48856/2015