SOME residents remain dissatisfied with the Shiralee Village master plan after it was approved on Tuesday night. Councillors unanimously approved the framework for Orange’s 1600-lot southern suburb following months of planning and 65 public submissions.
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Despite alternate name suggestions including The Springs and Towac, the Shiralee name was also endorsed.
Among the five residents to voice their opposition, Shiralee Road resident Garry Smith said the original master plan, as exhibited, was a reasonable mix of standard and compact lots, but developers had purchased 80 acres surrounding his property and additional smaller lots, defined as medium lots, had been added after submissions closed.
“The medium lots are only marginally larger than the compact lots,” he said.
“Surrounding me now are these medium blocks with a large proportion of compact blocks, creating a massive area of dog boxes.”
Councillors Neil Jones and Glenn Taylor queried whether there was room for residents to further negotiate on the master plan.
Development services director David Waddell emphasised the lot sizes were the minimum allowed and could be raised.
Cherrywood Close resident Tony Reppen addressed councillors with the opposite problem, saying the 2400 square metre blocks proposed for his property were too big.
“Our property is bounded on three sides by Pines Lane, Cherrywood Close and Shiralee Road,” he said.
“When allocating the specified minimum 40-metre road frontage to each of the 2400 square-metre lots, only seven lots would be recovered, which means the cost of the required infrastructure for this small number of lots would make the development financially unviable.”
Mr Waddell said residents would be able to comment on the contributions plan and the council would seek to make it equitable.
While Cr Jones originally opposed the expansion, he said the result was exciting and innovative.
"We've accepted the limited of the North Orange development and we've almost reached the limits of the western development so we're faced with the difficult decision that we must grow to the south," he said.
Councillor Russell Turner said the compact lot sizes reflected much of the infill development already occurring in the middle of Orange.
"I can remember with past infill development, there were usually concerns raised regarding loud parties and the like, but once the development has occurred, I don't think we've had a complaint," he said.
Council staff will now formalise the development control plan for the subdivision to ensure it remains consistent with its wider planning controls.
DEVELOPMENT of Shiralee Village could start by early 2015, following Tuesday night’s decision to approve the subdivision’s master plan.
Orange City Council sustainable development committee chair and councillor Jeff Whitton said development applications were anticipated in the coming months from developers who had been waiting for the master plan to be adopted.
“If the expected timelines are followed, it’s likely earthmoving machinery could appear on-site, creating the first new subdivisions in the south Orange area early in the new year,” he said.
“It’s expected that developers will now start to talk to landowners and that properties might start to change hands, but it could be another decade before the suburb will be fully developed.”
Cr Whitton said information about changes to rural rates to residential rates had been sent to landowners, however, the changes would not apply unless the landowner developed their land.
The new rating level would be calculated once the NSW Valuer-General provided the site’s new valuation.
“It’s important to remember that the new plan is about putting guidelines in place to assist people who want to develop their land,” he said. “If residents don’t want to develop their properties, they don’t have to.”