“Betrayal, gutted and disheartened” are just some of the words Tullimbar Village residents used to describe how they felt when they found out their promised town centre had been scrapped.
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New developer Dahua Group has lodged a development application with Shellharbour City Council that does not include plans for a vibrant retail and commercial centre in the estate, which is located west of Albion Park.
Rather the Dahua Group is seeking approval to develop a 37 torrens title lot residential subdivision with two residual lots. Most of the lots are between 300 square metres and 500 square metres.
Tullimbar Town Centre Action Group residents have launched a campaign, including a change.org petition, to oppose the proposal that left them blind-sided.
Locals are demanding the town centre be built as promised.
Action group president Shane Bitschkot said he and many other Tullimbar residents moved into the community because they wanted to live in a village that had a walkable lifestyle with retail facilities.
“We bought into this facility expecting Tullimbar Town Centre would be built,” he said.
“The town centre was going to set Tullimbar Village apart from other suburbs.
“We have smaller streets, laneways, and supposedly the town centre, all of which were designed to encourage a ‘walking community’ ethos.
“To have the town centre scraped is wrong, disenchanting and disappointing.
“We want the town centre to be built as planned.”
The town centre would have included a town hall, clock tower, multi-faith chapel, medical centre, cafes, gymnasium, community centre and pool.
Stella and Cecil Renfield were one of the original residents to move to the village nine years ago.
Mrs Renfield said they were promised the town centre would be built when they bought their land.
“This estate was going to be a lifestyle change for us when we retired,” Mrs Renfield said.
“We moved from a big two-storey house into the estate so we could walk to the stores in the village. We are still waiting for them to be built.
“The town centre was promised from the estate’s inception. We feel betrayed.”
Belinda Hodgson said the town centre was needed for residents’ convenience.
“If I want to go to the shops then I have to load my four young kids into the car and drive to the shopping centre at Albion Park just to buy bread and milk,” she said.
“I wanted to take my children to play at the town centre or enroll them in the childcare.
“We thought this village, which included the promised town centre, would be amazing when we bought our block of land and house. Now nothing is going to happen with the centre.”
To date, more than 600 residents have signed the petition and the action group is calling on Shellharbour councillors and local MPs to help them advocate for their centre.
The action group is also requesting the Dahua Group sit down with residents to hear their concerns.
Residents have until November 12 to lodge a submission with council.
A brief history of the village
The master-planned Tullimbar Village development has been under way since 2000.
Located just west of Albion Park, it has long been flagged as having the potential to house 5000 people.
Growth within the township was gradual, and the global financial crisis was blamed for putting the grand vision of 2000 homes behind by years.
Last year, the then developer of Tullimbar, Miltonbrook chairman Neville Fredericks announced he was retiring and selling the balance of the project.
Mr Fredericks said they had developed and sold more than 300 home sites in Tullimbar.
Developer Dahua Group Sydney purchased the remaining undeveloped lots for an undisclosed amount, in a deal described by the selling agents as “one of the biggest transactions in Wollongong in recent times”.
In September, EOI became open for the first land releases of a 600-lot Tullimbar estate, as Dahua Group unveiled details of its ‘1881 Tullimbar’ estate.