2. Sewer and Water Infrastructure

In respect of the ability to provide sewer and water infrastructure to service the proposed residential land release Sydney Water would need to be satisfied of commercial arrangements with the land owners and/or a developer to fund the provision of upgrading the infrastructure to cater for the additional demand.

The likely upgrade in terms of sewer services would require sewer carriers along the entire length of Glenhaven Road and Dooral Dooral Creek to a new pump station on Cattai Creek north of the Glenhaven Road bridge. This pump station would need to connect to the existing carriers to reach the Rouse Hill sewage treatment plant via either Smalls Creek pump station or an alternate route.

It should be noted that the connection to Rouse Hill would go through the Kellyville North release area. Under Sydney Water’s DSP only the western half of Kellyville North can be serviced while the eastern half adjoining Cattai Creek will not occur until all connections have been made on the western half and at least after 2015.

Potable water would presumably come from the reservoir site at the corner of Old Northern and New Line Roads at Dural. This may require amplification of water storage facilities at the Dural operations and trunk water mains to service the proposed dwellings. It is also understood that approaches have been made to Sydney Water in respect of a possible residential release for Dural South between Old Northern, New Line and Hastings Roads for the provision of water and sewer services with no indication of developer funding arrangements.

3. Strategic justification

The Hills Shire Council has a number of relevant strategic documents for the subject area included in their Local Strategy package that will need to be addressed in the planning proposal. The Residential Direction strategy does indicate that Glenhaven accommodates a small portion of dwellings by 2031; however this study does not forecast expansion of the residential land at Glenhaven. The Environment and Leisure Direction contains strategic outcomes for The Hills associated with the environment and leisure spaces and the Integrated Transport Direction plans for managing the Shire’s transport network to meet community needs.

In terms of justification it is important to highlight that the rezoning and subsequent residential development of the subject area would generate substantial Local Infrastructure Contributions which would be a significant benefit to the Council. For example the Glenhaven area would support additional dwellings and the population would utilise the existing schools and playing fields, while the existing road infrastructure needs upgrading particularly Glenhaven Road. With the development of this area as urban land the local contributions through Section 94 Contributions would be utilised to assist with the upgrading of the local road system.

4. Rezoning area and Catchment Plans

The nominated area of the planning proposal does not relate to a catchment in terms of a drainage system and natural topography. The rezoning proposal needs to apply to a distinct catchment area in terms of the creek catchment and it is suggested limiting the proposed area of the rezoning to the land south of Dooral Dooral Creek. This would add significant weight to the argument that the planning proposal was seen as a logical extension of the existing residential area of Glenhaven.

The rezoning should not apply to the land north of the creek as there is no clear delineation to the boundaries of the areas proposed in the planning proposal. In terms of environmental studies the creek corridor would form the natural barrier with the future residential land and this is an important consideration in terms of protecting the natural habitat as well as planning for Bushfire Prone Land.

In terms of providing planning advice the following recommendations are considered warranted in order pursue the rezoning of the area for residential purposes:

1. Reconsider the area of the rezoning proposal to follow the natural catchment area, that is bordered by the creek (i.e. Dooral Dooral Ck) and to include all parcels of land up to the existing residential zone boundary along Glenhaven Road.

2. Consider consultation with Sydney Water to include water and sewerage provisions as no infrastructure is identified for this area under the Department of Planning’s Metropolitan Development Program. Alternatively make suitable funding arrangements for sewer/water infrastructure funding on behalf of the landowners group in order to proceed with rezoning of the residential land release.

3. Suggest that during the exhibition period of the new draft LEP 2010, a submission be made to The Hills Shire Council requesting the area to be rezoned from Rural to Residential purposes and that the area is investigated to be included in the MDP.

Following these recommendations a rezoning application in the form of a planning proposal should be submitted to Council for assessment. With Council’s support the rezoning application would then be forwarded to the Department of Planning for assessment through the Gateway process.

The Department of Planning would determine the extent of environmental assessment and studies required to justify the rezoning should the planning proposal proceed with the support of the Council.

Yours faithfully,

Manager - Planning