Developers have lodged a new plan for one of the few large parcels of vacant residential land in Warrawong, hoping to transform a disused asbestos-riddled site into 18 homes.
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The proposal, for Lot 52 Jackson Avenue, comes after a long history of development attempts, and moves away from a previously approved plan to build more than 100 apartments on the land.
In plans on display through Wollongong City Council, the owners of the site - which is near Port Kembla Hospital - are hoping to subdivide the land to allow for 18 land lots of around 450 to 650 square metres each.
The homes will be situated around a watercourse on site, and works will also include an extension of Jackson Avenue, connecting it to Little Place, as well as tree and vegetation removal and remediation works.
Since 2004 there have been five development applications or modification requests for the land lodged with the council. Three of those were for a 102-apartment complex, with four unit blocks, and one, in 2013, involved the remediation of the site.
Following the remediation approval, the project manager of the site was ordered to pay the council fines of $62,500 for illegally clearing plants and dumped materials into the watercourse on the site.
Wollongong council took action because contractors had cleared an endangered white-flowered vine from the site without consultation from an ecologist, and ordered that all work on the site should cease.
The defendant argued in court that clearing vegetation was necessary "deadly blue asbestos" which required immediate removal, but the judge said a fine was needed to deter others from taking such actions.
Included in the new documents is a detailed removal plan for the remaining asbestos containing materials which are still scattered throughout the site.
Developers say this will minimise the risks to future site occupants and make the site suitable for the proposed development.
"The proposal will make efficient use of the site for future dwellings which will allow for increased housing stock in an area that is suitable for low density living, consistent with the intent of the LEP," the plans conclude.
"The creation of new lots for redevelopment will allow for future short-term positive economic impacts through employment generation, both direct employment and multiplier effects.
"Accordingly, it is considered that the proposed development is likely to have only positive social and economic impacts in the locality."
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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.
