MAAS Group Properties proposal to subdivide part of the former RAAF Base in Dubbo approved

MAAS Group Properties submitted their application to subdivide the 2.5-hectare south-eastern portion of the former RAAF Base Dubbo site into 46 allotments in March, 2021.

Last Friday, after years of back and forth, the application was approved.

The $1 million subdivision project is set to create 45 new residential lots and one additional lot to be set aside for a future drainage and pedestrian access parcel which will connect to the greater development site.

MAAS Group Properties say the new residential allotments - to be used for low density development - will range in size to encourage "interesting streetscapes" and a mixture of dwellings.

They say the proposed subdivision would be in the public's interest as it would "provide the community with future housing opportunities and choices" and makes up part of the "Former RAAF Base Dubbo site, which has been comprehensively planned for future residential development".

"The development proposes a variety of residential allotments which would provide for a future mixture of housing opportunities to the Dubbo community," they conclude.

"The proposal supports the current market demand for residential development."

On February 7, 2023, The Dubbo Regional Council put their stamp of approval on the subdivision proposal - but not before back and forth between developers and the heritage office to determine potential impacts of the subdivision on the significant historic site.

The 38-hectare plot was the location of a tent village during the Great Depression and the home of a major Air Force stores base during World War II.

Dubbo was seen as an ideal spot for the Air Force stores as it was far enough from the coastline to reduce the risk of enemy aircraft identifying and targeting them.

The disused land was purchased by Andorra Developments in 2011 with grand plans for a residential and business hub featuring more than 400 houses, tourism and hospitality businesses and accommodation.

Plans to redevelop the site were approved by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage in 2018 and, in 2019, the land was subdivided into 15 "superlots" for future development purposes. The plot of land MAAS Group will subdivide is known as Lot 14.

The first phase of the project involved the removal of 700 trees from the site, planted as part of a cypress forest that helped to camouflage the depot during the war.

According to a heritage report, there are no known items of Aboriginal cultural heritage on Lot 14 and a low-density residential development would be "unlikely" to have any significant impact on the heritage listed structures elsewhere on the base.

"There appear to be minimal, if any, adverse impacts likely to eventuate upon specific items of heritage significance relating to the land immediately within this Lot," says the heritage report.

"The extensive area of the overall RAAF Stores site has been deemed via previous approvals, capable of supporting new development in its less-sensitive parts, including Lot 14."

MAAS Group Properties will now begin undertaking work on-site to facilitate the subdivision.

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