I have many questions with regards to this rezoning and why council has invested so much time and money into a proposal that is guided by the local Real Estate Institute. The rezoning proposal for South Dubbo is to allow for Multi dwellings R1, in a part of town that has more than 10 per cent of heritage listed residences is flawed.
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Yes there is a need for more affordable housing in Dubbo and some multi dwellings, but why are they trying to solve this problem in a developed area?
Part of the public Exhibition is the Hill PDA - Review of Dubbo Residential Areas Development Strategy, August 2013. This report clearly states the barriers to development in Dubbo are:
o Inadequate zoning to facilitate infill development
o Minimum building covenants imposed within certain subdivisions
o The restrictive covenants for larger dwelling that subsist in some subdivision estates potentially reduce the affordability of dwellings, also conceivably amounting to an inefficient use of resources providing purchasers with more floor space than is necessarily required.
Based on this report, why is council not ensuring all new urban releases are zoned R1 to allow multi dwellings, instead of trying to over-develop an already historic part of town.
Table 7 of the Hill PDA Report details the 2000 lots approved but not yet delivered to the market. All of these again are not zoned R1.
o The West Dubbo Urban Release Area (northwestern subdistrict) encompasses a site area of 312ha and is zoned R2 low density with a minimum 600sqm lot size designation
o The West Dubbo Urban Release Area (south western subdistrict) encompasses a site area of 951.5ha and is zoned R2 Low Density and R5 Large residential with various minimum lot sizes
o The release areas in South-east Dubbo encompasses a site area of 246.8ha and is zoned R2 low density and R5 large residential with various minimum lot sizes. (I believe this is the 2014 approved Dubbo Residential Estate on Hennessy Dr).
There is a "disconnect" between the amount of zoned land and actual delivery of housing lots. If council feels there is a need for zoned land permitting multi-dwellings in Dubbo, why are they not changing the building covenants at Keswick Estate (council being the developer). Currently lots in Keswick require a dwelling size to be a minimum of 180sqm, accordingly adding to the cost of development.
Further to my arguments against the rezoning of South Dubbo include:
o The three schools in the zone are already to capacity, how will they cater to a larger population?
o Water pressure in this zone is poor. How will council be able to solve water pressure issues with additional multi dwellings? Happens retrospectively at considerable cost to council.
o The Fitzroy Street roundabout experiences a high level of accidents. More traffic will only increase this problem.