Wollondilly Heritage Review
Wollondilly Council is currently conducting early consultation on plans to amends its LEP to add 55 new heritage items, three new landscape conservation areas, and one new conservation area.
We think this proposal is a bad idea, because it does not balance preserving valuable heritage sites while still meeting current community needs. It is not in the community’s best interest: it would make it harder to build news homes near existing infrastructure, and would preserve buildings that are in states of disrepair.
We want you to make a submission against these proposals (some talking points included below).
Here are some points you might like to include:
Overall, this dramatic expansion of Wollondilly’s heritage controls will further limit opportunities to develop new homes in this important growth area.
The listing of the Appin Massacre site as a landscape conservation area is a good idea. This is an important example of where there is significant and genuine cultural and heritage justification for protection.
In contrast, the proposed Vault Hill and Spaniard’s Hill landscape conservation areas offer little heritage value and have significant potential as residential development sites. . These sites are both currently on the market as potential residential development sites (such as 1755 Remembrance Driveway, Picton and 265 Carrolls Road Menangle). There is a clear correlation between potential future development and proposed heritage listing.
65 Woodbridge Road should not be listed as a heritage site. Most of the buildings that are proposed to be listed are in disrepair and cannot safely be entered. The site was recently subject to a planning proposal that would have provided 1800 additional homes, and was rejected by the Wollondilly Planning Panel. The site is proposed due to its role in the evolution of the dairy industry in NSW, but the historical significance does not outweigh its potential benefit as a residential site near existing public transport infrastructure.
An example of one of the properties being heritage listed. This building is located on a site that was subject to a planning proposal that was rejected by Wollondilly Council, which would have allowed 1800 news homes to be built.
You can make a submission here, by Monday 16 October: Wollondilly Heritage Planning Proposal | Your Say Wollondilly (nsw.gov.au)
