20/03/2026
Submit your objections at https://pp.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/ppr/under-exhibition/garden-suburb-project until 20th of April Background- Landcom submitted their DA over a decade ago, 5 years ago the planning panel then assessed their proposal, and considered all the objections. The planning panel gave them conditional approval, with LOTS of conditions. FIVE years later they come back and totally go against their conditional approval and then seek to change Lake Macquarie Councils Local Environment Plan to put 69 units on two lots approved for 14 units by the planning panel. This makes a total mockery of the independent planning panel who assessed the proposal and put a cap of 105 housing units on this site because of the sensitive and high value bushland that surrounds it. It make a mockery of previous consultation that community put significant efforts in the consider and address. It makes a mockery of the previous reports provided to the community to consider the applicants development. Landcom has had 13 years to do this development and they still can't tell the community what the total development will look like. What the yield will really be. We want to know what Landcom is planning to do with Lot 69 before we can even consider the massive material changes to lots 67 and 68 that Landcom now desire to force on the community under the guise of affordable housing. Lot 67, 68 and 69 should be considered as one development and not portioned off to manipulate the rules because they know that will go over 75 lots and prevent them from using this trigger for self assessment. That's how they are getting around being transparent about the overall site. Landcom already just held a submission process that was poorly publicised and didn't event consult previous submitters regarding this development. Now we find out they actually have to change the local LEP to progress. Many people have just submitted objections against the development to Landcom and now we are supposed to do more submissions. This type of behaviour by a government associated body (Landcom), and endorsed with comments by local elected members (Jody and Yasmin) erodes community confidence and trust in community consultation and as mentioned, makes a mockery of NSW Planning Polices and environmental protection measures. Why be concerned I hear you say when we need more housing? There is already plenty of cleared land in the Hunter for the housing needs that we have without clearing and damaging more bushland. They have cleared 12 hectares already and now they are going to increase density which can be expected to have a negative impact on the remaining bushland surrounding the development. Landcom should be ashamed of themselves for how they have treated our local community for over a decade, how they have totally clear felled the site, how they have short changed the soccer club, how they were going to provide an off site off set and could not find a like for like one and decided to do an on site off set, how they have removed what could have been a strong visual buffer at the front of the site. Now they have come back right at the last moment and said, no, what we told you before is not what we are going to do. We are going to have 3 storey buildings here now and greater density and we are going to consolidate social housing into one location with what could be considered insufficient parking. To be honest, we are getting exactly what we expected from Landcom based on how they have treated the local community. Lake Macquarie Councillors are the only people who have let us down equally to Landcom.
The Rezoning Proposal seeks to amend the planning controls in the Lake Macquarie Local Environmental Plan 2014 to allow the 38-hectare site that was previously assessed as suitable for residential development to transition from a deferred matter zoning to contemporary zonings. The proposed residenti...
