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With a long and chequered history in the NSW planning system, Stockland is having another crack at its seniors housing development in Castle Hill.
Located at 346 – 350 Old Northern Road, Castle Ridge Resort was approved and constructed in the 1980s as a retirement village.
Stockland is now seeking to progress the following amendments to The Hills Local Environmental Plan:
1. introduce ‘senior housing’ as an additional permitted use on the site,
2. amend the maximum building heights to provide a height range from 0 metres – 18 metres, and
3. introduce a maximum floor space ratio of 0.83:1.
A master plan has been prepared to support the proposal, which provides for:
· an indicative yield of 247 high-amenity apartments that demonstrate compliance with the Apartment Design Guide,
· buildings ranging from 3-6-storeys with increased heights located in the centre of the site to minimise visual impacts. A 0 metre height limit is proposed for the central parkland,
· a 1300sqm community hub providing a range of on-site amenities and health facilities, and
· retention of the large communal parkland, protection of the majority of significant trees and 50% of the site as landscaped area.
Stockland has also prepared a site-specific Development Control Plan, containing typical development controls relating to building design, setbacks, access, residential amenity, site coverage, trees and landscaped area.
A voluntary planning agreement is also being secured to allocate monetary contributions towards local infrastructure items, including upgrades to Pioneer Place Reserve.
Aerial image of the site with proposed buildings
Planning context
Sitting on 3.7 hectares in area, the site is bound by Old Northern Road to its east and low-to-medium density housing to its north, south and west.
This is the third planning proposal for the site in the past 6 years, with previous proposals lodged in June and January 2019.
Previously, both proposals were subject to a rezoning review and on each occasion, the Sydney Central City Planning Panel confirmed that the proposals had strategic merit, stating:
“The Panel believes that the continued use of the site for Senior’s Living and provision of improved housing and support facilities would be beneficial planning outcomes. Accordingly, the Panel was satisfied that the Proposal has strategic merit.”
However, the Panel did raise the following site-specific issues, including:
· the proposed height and density, including consistency with the environmental zone objectives and local character,
· the consistency between the proposed heights in the master plan and heights of building map, and
· site disturbance and tree loss.
Being zoned E4 Environmental Living, seniors housing is prohibited in this zone. However, given the existing village was approved and built in the 1980s, it benefits from existing use rights.
Demand for seniors housing
Stockland alleges that redevelopment of Castle Ridge Resort is required to meet the needs of an aging population and an increasing demand for high quality seniors housing in The Hills LGA.
Within 20 years, there will be an additional 47,000 people over 65, which is 16% of the total population in The Hills LGA.
The projected growth in people aged over 65 means that there must be more emphasis on planning for well-designed and well-located seniors housing and aged care options that allow people to age in place.
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Propertied Insider is a planning and development digital publication dedicated to the NSW Market.
