Inverell's housing drought may soon be over, set to be replaced with enough land to satisfy at least 50 years of residential development.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Inverell Shire Council has voted in favour of adopting draft plans for three new residential areas, a decions marking the culmination of years worth of consultation, planning and design.
King and Campbell's David Tooby presented the plans to council, praising the process and "vision" established from the outset.
The first area is in East Inverell, to the south of Glen Innes Road between Lake Inverell Drive and Moore Street.
The second area is also in the eastern part of Inverell. from Short Street to Swanbrook Road and from Moore Street to Onus Avenue.
READ ALSO
And the third is west of the town - between Vernon Street and Jardine Road.
The plans ensure road linkages, stormwater drainage, open space and services provision be undertaken in "an orderly and efficient manner".
Mr Tooby called the extensive community consultation process as one of the most "successful" he's ever been a part of: a collaborative process involving council, landowners, stakeholders and residents to create a plan suitable to the both the areas and the town as a whole.
"It is one of the really good success stories of community consultation - and I do a lot of that!" he said.
The new residential areas represent significant development potential for Inverell, he said, with the Structure Plan providing the framework for the developments to occur.
He said currently, around 12 to15 new urban dwellings are constructed in Inverell each year.
Even if demand increases to 20 a year, Inverell will have a sufficient land supply for the next 50 years.
"It was a good vision that was established at the outset of the project," Mr Tooby said.
The biggest community consultation sessions were in September 2018, which was an internal session with council staff, councillors. That was then followed by external sessions with the community.
"71 people came in from the public... and it was actually really positive," Mr Tooby said.
"People were coming in to talk about their own land, concerns about developments generally - but almost all of them were very supportive of the process, and all of them left happy that they came.
He said interestingly, one of the major issues talked about was the size of the lots.
"A lot of people said that this is the country - 'we don't want residential development like on the coast where lots were tiny and small, we've got lots of space and we want to make the best of space'," Mr Tooby explained.
Mayor Paul Harmon said that it was great to see "forward thinking" in the plan.
"As a former transport operator-owner, it's great to see looking around school and bus services in particular, there is a good focus on connectivity... whereas before there is a classic example of the Gwydir Highway where you have two separate sub-divisions that have cul de sac streets and they do not link."
The overall consensus was summed up by councillor Stewart Berryman: "there is no doubt that structure plans are the way to go."
What's next
Identified as something needed in the 2013 Development Control Plans (DCP), the Draft Structure Plan isn't the last step in opening up the land to developers.
To ensure that the Structure Plan achieves its vision of 'providing for a well-planned urban community' a number of 'next steps' are needed first.
The Inverell Development Control Plan 2013 be amended to recognise this Structure Plan and further expand on any relevant development controls particular to each of the New Residential Areas.
The Inverell Shire Council Section 94 Contribution Plan (amended 2003) be amended to include the New Residential Areas and provide a mechanism to levy development for the costs associated with the required road and infrastructure upgrades.
The Development Servicing Plan (DSP) No. 1 (August 2005) be amended to recognise the New Residential Areas as well as the significant infrastructure required to service the areas (see below).
The preparation of a "Future Urban Traffic Analysis and Assessment" also needs to be completed.
To see the full plan, click here.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
- Bookmark inverelltimes.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: @inverelltimes
- Follow us on Instagram @inverelltimes
- Follow us on Google News
