AN IDYLLIC lifestyle on a quiet street looking out over native bushland is under threat from plans for a large-scale intensive housing development.
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When residents bought their blocks of land in Golden Grove, Worrigee, plans showed the parcel of land across the road from their homes and stretching to Greenwell Point Road was reserve.
Real estate agents and even solicitors also told residents the land was set aside for a reserve but all that changed last week when residents were informed of plans to bulldoze the bushland to build community housing.
Shoalhaven City Council sold the bushland block to South Coast Community Housing in January this year, and the organisation has plans to build 34 homes – many of them clustered around a narrow cul-de-sac.
A development application is on public exhibition after being presented to Shoalhaven City Council, and is supported by an environmental impact statement the residents claim is flawed.
Residents say the block supports a large amount of native wildlife not mentioned in the EIS, including large numbers of green and golden bell frogs they say occupy a swamp area on the block during summer.
In addition, there were possums, echidnas, snakes and a vast array of bird life including rainbow lorikeets, rosellas, currawongs, magpies, kookaburras and galahs present on the block during different times of the year, according to residents.
“We’ve got so much wildlife here it’s unbelievable,” said Samantha Purcell.
Terry Earle claimed the bushland created a vital link with swamps on the other side of Greenwell Point Road and farmland in Pyree, forming part of a green belt. “We’re having a hard time getting anyone to talk to us,” he said.
Plans drawn up for the block include regular low-density development facing Golden Grove, with medium density homes, many of them on 350 square metre blocks, built surrounding a new cul-de-sac coming off Worrigee Road closer to Greenwell Point Road.
Residents claimed there were already traffic problems along Worrigee Road, and adding another intersection closer to Greenwell Point Road would only exacerbate them.
South Coast Community Housing chief executive officer Marg Bicskos rejected suggestions the land was home to rare or endangered species, saying an environmental study was carried out before the organisation bought the land.
That assessment showed there were no protected or endangered species on the site, Ms Bicskos said.
She said the whole block was zoned for medium density development yet the organisation was only allowing medium density development on part of the site to help preserve the feel and atmosphere of Golden Grove.
The medium density section would provide separate two-bedroom houses on smaller blocks, which suited people who did not want to maintain large homes or blocks.
Called integrated housing, Ms Bicskos said it regularly accommodated working people or older residents who could not afford private rental.
She said the homes were planned simply because they were needed within the community.
