16 x 2bdrm UNITS 23 BATCHELOR ST NEWLANDS

Margaret from Paparangi

As residents may notice, there has been fencing put around the site at 23 Batchelor St. To all of you who park in Batchelor St and Atkinson St to catch a bus to work it looks like you will have to park elsewhere possibly as soon as the earthworks begin. It's going to cause even more congestion and hazards than exist at the moment, it's a shame not more of the local residents took notice and action, as the chaos that will ensue is going to cause a lot of problems to a lot of people and not just the locals. I have included the original post I did through neighbourly just to refresh your memories:
I am part of a group of neighbours and local ratepayers disputing the property development the council has given permission for at 23 Batchelor St/cnr Atkinson St, Newlands, the old Community house site.
There has been a clear lack of neighbour / resident consultation regarding the consent application from both developer and WCC. WCC deemed this non-notifiable and completed the approval process with input only from the developer.
This is a very small site for 16 two bedroom units in eight two- storey buildings, in the centre of Newlands, and there is doubt over whether WCC physically investigated the site before granting building permission.
The council has obviously made concessions for the developers. These ‘boxes’ will retail for BEO $525,000, the price increasing when the first eight are sold.
Certain critical impacts appear to have been overlooked:
• Increased noise
• Impact on traffic congestion / pedestrian safety
• Loss of privacy
• Environmental factors including potential Health and Safety concerns, psychological and mental stress
Bachelor Street is already scary to drive on during the day, many people living in areas inaccessible to public transport, use Atkinson/Bachelor St to park & catch the bus, go to work locally, or drop off & pick up children from the Primary School across the road.
According to the Real Estate agents, groundwork is due to commence early July. This development will put added unwarranted pressure on Newlands already overtaxed infrastructure. As the development is non notifiable it would appear so are the repercussions, as far as the WCC is concerned? We are very interested to hear your comments.