The approach is aimed at enabling Cumberland to move forward with existing planning proposals in the short term, including zoning changes to increase maximum building heights and floor space ratios (FSR), while continuing long term strategic planning along each corridor.
A Draft Woodville Road Planning Strategy, which was exhibited by the former Parramatta City Council in 2016, attracted 25 submissions, both for and against, before responsibility shifted to Cumberland following council mergers.
Existing initiatives include rezoning 100 Woodville Road in Granville, to redevelop the existing convent on the site into a medium density townhouse development, and a proposal to rezone the John Cootes site at 264 Woodville Road in Merrylands, for up to 260 residential units plus retail and commercial floorspace and a neighbourhood centre.
In November 2016, the Parramatta Road Corridor Urban Transformation Strategy was released by the State Government with the stated aim of providing “direction for future land use between Granville in the west and Camperdown in the east”.
Two of the corridor’s eight precincts – the Auburn Precinct and Granville West Frame Area – fall within the Cumberland LGA, and the second stage of planning will focus on targeted changes to planning controls to fit in the timeframes of the new Cumberland Local Environmental Plan which is in the process of being prepared.
Both corridors are also identified as providing land use opportunities for housing and jobs, supported by government investment, in the Draft Cumberland 2030: Our Local Strategic Planning Statement, which is on exhibition until August 30.
‘Staged approach’ to future land use
COUNCILLORS have endorsed separate recommendations to take “a staged approach” to land use proposals along both the Woodville and Parramatta Road Corridors.
