THE final decision on whether a service station and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) outlet will be allowed to go ahead in Telopea Way and Farrell Road will be made behind closed doors.
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The Western Region Joint Regional Planning Panel (JRPP) Gateway process has decided the proposal, by the applicant of the development, to have the land re-zoned to allow for a takeaway food outlet and service station has merit, and has therefore decided it should be placed on public exhibition for 28 days.
However, there will be no public hearing when the panel makes its judgment. Councillor Neil Jones said it was unfortunate the procedure would not be transparent, given Orange City Council unanimously rejected the re-zoning.
“I am opposed to the re-zoning,” he said,
“There is a whole range of developments which could go ahead there without having the land re-zoned.”
The block, adjacent to the north Orange McDonalds, would be better suited to a “professional centre” according to resident Pauline Jenkins.
“A centre where you’d have a doctor, a dentist or a lawyer. It’s all young families out here and they need places like that. The people here are not anti-development,” she said.
The original proposal came before council in late 2012 by a town planner acting for Garfield Road Holdings Pty Ltd, but it was rejected. The applicant appealed the decision and took the proposal to JRPP.
The service station is proposed for the corner of the site with entry via Telopea Way and exit onto Farrell Road, and the KFC will be behind it, with entry and exit from Telopea Way, according to a traffic consultant’s report submitted by the applicant.
It found the intersections would continue to operate at the existing levels of service even with the extra traffic generated.
However, resident Phil Stevenson said the traffic situation was terrible and it would be exacerbated by another large development.
“It’s not a logical place,” he said.
A draft local environment plan must be completed within nine months.
That plan would then be on public exhibition for 28 days. Council will be making a submission to the panel against the proposal.