Warrigal’s long-held plan to build seniors housing and an aged care hub south of Wollongong’s CBD could be abandoned if the council pushes ahead with its vision for South Wollongong.
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In a scathing and unusually public attack, the aged care provider this week hit out at Wollongong City Council’s draft strategy for the mixed-use, flood prone area south of Burelli Street, which was released in April.
Warrigal CEO Mark Sewell said his organisation had been shocked by the council’s vision, which proposed rezoning parts of the South Wollongong precinct to “environmental living”, which would prohibit almost all types of development.
“We can’t work out why this just seems too hard for the council. There’s no real vision, no real plan.”
- Mark Sewell
Mr Sewell said this would be “a final knock out punch” for Warrigal, and could mean existing blocks of run-down buildings which run along Corrimal Street are left to deteriorate for another decade.
“[The rezoning] would render our land and adjoining lots unable to be developed, unless we were to knock down the rusty old premises and put up some sort of cottage,” he said.
“We would basically have a large parcel of land that has a substandard hodge-podge of commercial and residential users with no development future.
“We’d also have to get in touch with the 140 people we know want to live there and tell them it’s all off because it’s never going to happen here.”
The aged care organisation has, since 2010, been trying to build a two-tower high-rise on a block facing Beach and Corrimal streets.
It gained approval in the Land and Environment Court to build a 120-bed high-dependency unit on the site, but says a six-storey serviced apartment complex atop this approved development is necessary to make this facility financially and socially viable.
“Older people don’t want to find an apartment somewhere else and then move to another aged care home,” Mr Sewell said, in explanation.
“This way [under the high-rise plan] a couple could move in to an apartment, and then one could move into the care part of it so they can stay together.”
“Wollongong desperately needs great places for older people to live, close to the city, and we’re missing a big opportunity here.”
Mr Sewell said he hoped that the council would reconsider its draft plan for South Wollongong, and suggested it consider an alternative future strategy that would allow “an impressive southern entrance to Wollongong”.
“There also needs to be works done that would mitigate the flood problems in the area,” he said.
“It seems to me that the council has a blind spot about this part of the city, which is a shame. It’s all flat, level, there’s big wide boulevardes and a grid pattern for the streets, and it’s half as close to the city as North Wollongong.
“We can’t work out why this just seems too hard for the council. There’s no real vision, no real plan.”
Warrigal submitted its concerns to the council via the public consultation process for the draft plan, which closed on May 24.
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
