Planning authorities have approved a massive housing subdivision between Cameron Park and Minmi, despite concerns about urban sprawl and how the road network will be upgraded to cope with increased traffic.
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The Hunter Central Coast Regional Planning Panel announced on Wednesday that it had approved the 1058-lot housing estate on the northern boundary of Lake Macquarie local government area.
"The application will have positive socio-economic effects most notably by providing an increased and more diverse housing stock which will contribute to improved local housing affordability," the panel said in its determination.
The panel will consider an adjoining 858-lot subdivision inside Newcastle council area next month.
The twin applications, with a combined project value of $220 million, represent more than half of a huge 3300-lot development which gained concept approval from the NSW government 10 years ago.
Newcastle lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said last month that the 2013 concept approval no longer aligned with the council's strategy for urban development.
She said the low-density estate would contribute to urban sprawl and should have medium- and high-density housing as well.
Developer Winten said in a statement on Wednesday that "we hope today's approval leads to a more cooperative approach from Newcastle Council and that we may soon be able to obtain approval for the remainder of the development without the ratepayers of Newcastle being put to the expense of an unnecessary court appeal".
Winten bought the 517-hectare site from mining giant Coal and Allied in 2015, a $65 million transaction billed as the Hunter's largest residential land sale in terms of dollars and area in half a century.
The concept approval included five residential stages, two new commercial centres and a primary school.
Stage one in Newcastle and stage two in Lake Macquarie were approved more than five years ago, though work on the first 600-lot Lake Macquarie section has not started.
Both the current stage-five subdivision applications are north of the Newcastle Link Road between Wallsend and the M1 Pacific Motorway.
The stage-five subdivision in Newcastle council area is immediately west and south of Minmi.
The planning panel rejected both applications late last year over concerns about traffic impacts, but Winten applied for a review of the decision and lodged modified plans.
The planning panel said in its ruling on Wednesday that it was satisfied the modifications had addressed the reasons for last year's planning refusal.
Lake Macquarie City Council's assessment report on the now-approved development application said Winten had lodged traffic modelling of the development's impact on the road network in 2026, 2031 and 2036.
This modelling showed the roundabout at the intersection of the link road and Minmi Road, the entrance point to the new subdivision, would need to change to traffic lights.
Other required upgrades would include widening Minmi Road to four lanes, a new roundabout at Transfield Avenue, Edgeworth, more turning lanes from the link road into Woodford Street, and improving the Minmi Road intersection with Main Road, Edgeworth, and the Lake Road intersection with the link road.
"An agreement with TfNSW to facilitate the elements of the above works within the state and local road network has been reached," the Lake council assessment report says.
But a Newcastle council briefing report on the proposed subdivision inside its boundaries said Transport for NSW needed to clarify when these upgrades would be required if the two development applications "progress independently".
The council briefing, dated November 28, said the "rationale relied upon by TfNSW to apportion the recommended upgrades between the two DAs is unclear".
"For example, under the current TfNSW conditions all of the approved Precinct [stage] 2 development in LMCC and the entire proposed LMCC DA could be developed as well as up to 50% of the CN DA (a combined total of around 2200 dwellings) without the Lake Road/Link Road upgrades being in place, whereas such upgrade would have been deemed necessary only when approximately 50% development of the CN DA alone was developed," the briefing says.
Winten said on Wednesday that work on "this stage of the development will not commence until the upgrade of the Newcastle Link Road and Minmi Road intersection is completed by the state government".
The planning panel determination said "satisfactory arrangements have been made to ensure that all necessary public utility infrastructure (roads, water, sewerage, electricity and telecoms) will be available as needed through scheduling that is compatible with the intended sequence of the development".
City of Newcastle also asked for a one-kilometre buffer zone around its Summerhill garbage tip to prevent smells affecting subdivision residents.
Winten submitted a consultant's odour report which said the tip had an "active landfill cell" within 400 metres of the subdivision and recommended a 430-metre buffer.
Lake council's assessment report recommended a 430-metre buffer be maintained as a condition of consent.
Lake council reached an agreement with Winten last month for the developer to pay the council $22.6 million for new parks, playgrounds, sports fields and a shared path if the subdivision gained approval.
We hope today's approval leads to a more cooperative approach from Newcastle Council
- Winten
Michael Parris
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
