A residents group fears Nords Wharf's main streets will become unsafe if one of the Pacific Highway intersections into the village has its access restricted under a developer's plan to modify a state planning approval.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
As part of a modification to a previously approved 90-lot subdivision at the southern end of the village, Nords Wharf Development Company Pty Ltd wants to alter a requirement for upgrading the Pacific Highway and Awabakal Drive intersection.
The original concept approval, granted in 2012, requires the unsignalised T-intersection to be upgraded to a signalised seagull intersection like the southern entry to Catherine Hill Bay.
The developer has proposed upgrading the other entry to Nords Wharf instead, the Pacific Highway and Nords Wharf Road intersection, and making Awabakal Drive left-in, left-out only.
Nords Wharf Progress Association president Ray Flett believes the proposed changes would force an unsafe amount of traffic through the lakeside village.
Residents of the future subdivision would have to travel through the existing residential area every time they travelled south towards the Central Coast, he said. Likewise, motorists coming from north would not be able to use Awabakal Drive to access the subdivision and be forced through the village.
"If the developer gets their way, all traffic is going to either go along Government Road or down past the school on Marine Parade," he said.
"Footpaths there are non-existent. You can't even walk on the grass because it's at an incline. It's local kids that we're concerned about and some of the elderly when they want to go for a walk down to the waterfront."
The NSW Department of Planning has backed residents objections to the proposed intersection changes.
"The approved intersection layout provides a more logical outcome and increased options for the local community, particularly in the event of an emergency," the department said in its modification assessment.
It said the developer had proposed the changes as a "more cost-effective option".
The developer has also proposed reducing a $1 million contribution fee to $415,000. The department does not support the reduction as "it is not in the public interest" and was a "contribution in the original approval that would directly benefit local people".
It does support increasing the subdivision to 96 lots.
The Independent Planning Commission is assessing the modification due to the number of objections.
It is holding a public meeting as part of its determination at Caves Beach hotel at 9.30am on Wednesday.
The developer could not be reached for comment.
