Concerned neighbours Bill Adams, Nick Livissianos and Christopher Bishop in front of the site at 48 Smith Street where the proposed 15 lot development will sit. Hilltops Council last week sent out notices of the proposed development of 15 residential lots in Smith Street to neighbouring houses adjacent to the block. The site of 48 Smith Street Harden is the proposed site for a subdivision of 15 new residential blocks and two new access roads.

Concerned local residents, Christopher Bishop and Bill Adams who live adjacent to the proposed site at 48 Smith Street, want Council to provide the community with more information regarding the development on the elevated blocks. “The traffic is the biggest concern for me regarding Bobbara Street because we already have a high traffic flow there, including on the laneway. The more traffic means it’s harder for people to get out of the laneway. There’s already been quite a few near misses,” Mr Adams said.

“The other concern I’m having is the storm water. The amount of rain we get, especially in the last few years, the dumps have already been enormous. We’ve already had our shed flooded a few times, so I’m very concerned how they’re going to handle the stormwater.

If there’s kerbing out the front, the storm water is going to end up in my place.

“Is the council infrastructure in drainage sufficient enough to be able to take 15 dwellings? That’s a real critical issue. What I’m calling for is for a hydraulic engineer to access the drainage situation and to see if it’s viable. “But I do understand that there is a need for housing in Harden and there can be a need for some development in this lot and I agree with it. Maybe less dwellings and include a playground for the kids so it’s sustainable for the future.”

Smith Street Harden. Mr Bishop also had concerns regarding storm water at his property and the high density living with the proposal. “I have to dig trenches to take the water back into the into the lot because it was all coming into my place.

At the top of the lot in Bobbara Street there is a storm water drain which brings all the water that collects on the other side of the road and it’ll pour through our property. It’s a flowing river when it rains,” Mr Bishop said.

“It’s high density on the very outskirts of town. To me, it’s meant to be semi-rural here.

“We just want some more communication and consultation from Council. An open community forum would be great.” Any changes would make a significant impact to traffic with the nearby high school during pick-up and drop off times, as well as change the dynamic of Smith Street that would affect all who reside on the street.

Jaime Dyhrberg, Director of Planning at Hilltops Council, confirmed that Council sent out nine notification letters to those who share adjoining land and are not planning to have any type of community forum to discuss the matter.

“We were not planning to have any community session and the reason for that is we have a community participation plan that we work towards for development applications,” Dyhrberg said.

“For this development, given its size, we’ve notified all of the affected parties and we’re really encouraging them to provide their feedback via the submission process because that’s the best way for their concerns to be heard.”

When the notices of proposed development initially went out to homeowners on the surrounding blocks last Wednesday (24 August), they excluded one on the relevant plans to go with it, with the plans not being provided until this Tuesday (30 August) and therefore the 14-day period to make a submission to Council was restarted.

Submissions regarding the application must be lodged in writing to Council no later than 5pm on Tuesday 13 September, and grounds of objection must be stated in the submission if so chosen.

“We had an administrative error where when we first notified neighbouring residents, we failed to include one of the plans. We’ve resent those letters with the plans and have reset the 14-day period,” Dyhrberg. Hilltops Councillor Matthew Stadtmiller said that letters of notification were not received by other landowners on Smith Street as well as raising potential issues of the proposed development.

“There’s a number of concerns regarding the development including the width of Smith Street which is only nine metres,” Cr Stadtmiller said.

“When school assemblies, sporting events or drop-off and pick-up occur and cars park on both sides of the road, it turns into one-way traffic. The development may cause further issues down the track in regards to traffic movements.

“In regards to the hydrology report, there may need to be an increase in civil works undertaken to capture the stormwater that will accumulate on the south-eastern part of the block and will come down the hill to the north-western part of the block.

We need more housing in the township and it must be done right, water is already an issue in Smith Street as well as near the Harden Nursery where it has casued tremendous damage.”

It is now a waiting game as to how the proposed development will take place as any resident can voice their concern regardless of where they live.

Tim Warren