John and Judy Glover’s property is the most affected by the proposed development of 200 over-50s houses in Narooma. They will be surrounded by houses. Photo: Marion Williams.
Residents opposed to a proposed over-50s housing development voiced their concerns at Eurobodalla Shire Council’s latest public access meeting.
Judy and John Glover’s property on Old Highway, Narooma, is the most impacted by the development. Mrs Glover said she only discovered that DA0575/24 was on the agenda of the 12 November meeting when State Member for Bega Dr Michael Holland told her on 8 November.
Nola Ezzy, co-director and CEO of Ezzy Architects since 1980, presented at the meeting. She said she represented 38 residents who supported a documented objection about the development application (DA) to the council. Her property is also impacted by the proposed development.
The Glovers said their greatest issue was the density of the development given the land’s low-density residential R2 zoning.
Mr Glover was mayor of Yass and in local government for more than 32 years. He received an Order of Australia Medal in 1998 and has a Premier’s Medal for Services to Local Government.
When the couple moved from a 607-hectare farm in Yass to their property on Old Highway, it was to avoid suburbia. They never dreamt they would be surrounded by 200 houses and that the current dirt road would become the main access point for potentially 200 or more vehicles.
“We think the council should refuse the development as inappropriate,” Mr Glover said. “It wrote the Local Environmental Plans and doesn’t abide by them.”
Ms Ezzy and her husband Ian Ezzy said the 12.55-hectare site was unsuitable for the proposed development. The couple has decades of experience working in the development, architecture and landscaping of large projects and dealing with issues such as subterranean water and pollution.
John and Judy Glover’s property is situated to the top right hand of the proposed roundabout that would be used by 122 dwellings to the east and 78 to the west. Photo: Eurobodalla Shire Council website.
They said they were called as expert witnesses in the court case into the cause of the 1997 Thredbo landslide – a leaky mains pipe and a road built on an unstable slope of debris.
Mr Ezzy said the Old Highway development site originally had three streams.
“Since then, the council has put in two roads, sealed them and there is no drainage,” he said. “The developer’s engineers and geotech engineers have both described floodways and a site covered by 2.5 metres of polluted fill.”
The couple said whenever there was heavy rain, the dam on their property flowed into a dam that the developer planned to remove, and that the planned retaining walls were clearly inadequate for the 35 m slope to be levelled.
“Their own reputable consultants, Douglas Partners, have warned against development without further investigation,” Mr Ezzy said.
Another concern is that the land is designated bushfire-prone.
“There is no turning circle for the fire trucks,” Mrs Glover said. “We want to see the report back from the RFS.”
Mr Glover said in NSW, every DA required RFS approval.
If the proposed development goes ahead, instead of sloping grassland, Judy and John Glover’s backyard will be surrounded by houses and a roundabout serving potentially 200 or more vehicles. Photo: Marion Williams.
Mrs Glover criticised the communication around the DA.
“We only knew about the DA because of the notice on the property,” she said. “Our notification didn’t come until almost the end of the consultation period. Some people received notification, others didn’t.”
She said they had spoken to Federal Member for Eden-Monaro Kristy McBain about the development at her regular local meeting.
The Glovers also held a meeting at their house with about 30 community members to discuss the development.
“Only Dr Holland turned up,” Mrs Glover said. “Mayor Mat Hatcher said he was coming but didn’t.”
Councillor Anthony Mayne looked at the development site on a separate occasion.
Mr and Ms Ezzy said the developer was bending the rules covering housing for the elderly. It is a “Manufactured Housing Estate” under the act.
The NSW State Environment Planning Policy (SEPP 65 for over 55s) states that seniors housing must not be located in a flood or fire-prone zone, and be located close to services or provide those services on site.
The proposed development is not within walking distance of shops, services or healthcare facilities and there is no bus service other than the school bus.
“That fact that the DA is for over 50s dodges the SEPP 65 rules and the slope of that land is not allowable under the council’s Local Environmental Plan,” Mr Ezzy said. “They have disregarded the advice of the DA consultants that further investigation is needed to develop this land.”
The two couples agree that the type of housing that Narooma really needs is accommodation to keep the young people in town.
“Every cafe and shop is looking for staff,” Mr Glover said. “The accommodation we need is to keep the population we have, to keep the young people and the teachers and the nurses.”
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