THE Shiralee masterplan may have won planning awards for its forward-thinking approach to housing stock and future liveability, but the economic viability of some of the blocks has come under fire.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A progress report was submitted to Orange City Council on Tuesday night, illustrating four subdivisions so far approved or in planning: three stages on the corner of Shiralee and Lysterfield roads and a 103-lot subdivision on Shiralee Road.
A further 17-lot subdivision at 168 Shiralee Road was deferred at the same meeting.
Councillor Tony Mileto said he understood the common practice of buying a larger lot and building dual occupancy units was not an option at Shiralee, as it had been in north Orange.
He noted the minimum lot size in certain areas was 200 square metres.
"Which it appears nobody wants to purchase," he said.
"This cuts out a fair percentage of buyers as they cannot value add themselves."
He asked development services director David Waddell why the council was imposing "restrictive site coverage" by setting out which types of housing should be located where.
"I wonder about consistency," he said.
Mr Waddell said the rationale behind Shiralee was different to north Orange.
"There are a lot of dual occs in north Orange - people would buy 800 square metre block in a street assuming everything would be 800, then they were subdivided and to their surprise, they had units next to them," he said.
"In Shiralee we've tried to deliberately small lots will be in that row there so if you move into that street, that's what you will get."
Mr Waddell said conveyancers would be able to explain any covenants on the land to prospective buyers.
After the meeting, Cr Mileto said he believed the council would eventually need to abandon the 200 square metre lot sizes in favour of larger lots and more consultation was needed with the building industry.
- READ ALSO: Shiralee village masterplan approved
DO YOU WANT MORE ORANGE NEWS?
Receive our free newsletters delivered to your inbox, as well as breaking news alerts. Sign up below ...