Cumberland Golf Club Seniors Housing Development

We, the residents of Kootingal Street and the surrounding area, strongly object to the proposed development of seniors housing at the Cumberland Country Golf Club due to the detrimental impacts this development would inflict upon our community and environment as follows:

Narrow Street: Kootingal Street is not sufficiently wide enough to accommodate the increased traffic volume resulting from the proposed development. The narrowness of the street presents significant safety hazards, especially during peak traffic periods.

Traffic Congestion: The proposed housing units would significantly exacerbate existing traffic congestion issues in our neighborhood. Kunyal Place, the proposed access road and the adjoining Kootingal street, lacks the capacity to handle the influx of residents and visitors, leading to gridlock, delays, and heightened risk of accidents to the street.

Noise Pollution: The current tranquillity of Kootingal Street will be disrupted by increased traffic noise, affecting the quality of life for residents day and night. This disruption would not only compromise our quality of life but also negatively impact our mental and physical well-being.

Car lights: Car lights in the night will go directly into my house as I am at the t-intersection of Kunyal Place causing sleep disturbance.

Parking Issues: The proposed development fails to address the already limited street parking availability. Additional traffic will exacerbate parking problems, impacting residents' ability to park near their homes causing inconvenience to residents and our own visitors and potentially endangering public safety. There are already many cars, trailers and boats parked on the street now, imagine the kaos following this development. Our current residents will loose their own car spots as potentially, it will become a no stopping/no parking zones or even a one-way street etc to cope with the traffic.
Inadequate Parking Provision at development site: The proposed number of parking spots in the development is insufficient to accommodate the expected number of residents, visitors, and club patrons, leading to overflow parking on residential street of Kootingal Street.

Street Signage and Presentation: Potential signage of no stopping and no parking or oneway signs and road alterations will negatively impact the visual appeal and presentation of our homes. Especially my home which is directly opposite the proposed road opening.

Incompatibility with Surroundings: Building multi-story structures in a country club setting is incongruent with the character of the area. It’s a country club, not a city club. Building multiple stories is not country like at all.

Environmental Concerns: The proposed development threatens to destroy native trees and habitats, disturbing the local ecosystem (cockatoos, bats etc).

Loss of Views: Current residents on Kootingal Street with golf course views will lose their scenic views to the golf club, impacting the enjoyment and value of their properties and instead it will be given to the new residents of the proposed development, doesn’t seem fair as its at our expense they will get the views.

Safety Hazards: Increased traffic poses a risk of accidents, particularly for residents especially for my house which is situated at intersections of Kunyal Place. A car could easily crash into my house directly if an elderly or visitor loses control. And I would not agree to any barricade’s being placed infront of my place as protection either.

Property Value: The development risks diminishing property values due to all the above reasons and eroding the sense of community on Kootingal Street.

Alternative Sites: There are numerous alternative locations for such developments that do not encroach upon our peaceful community.

Misrepresentation: Previous communications indicated a much smaller-scale development, and the sudden increase in size from 2-3 stories to now 5-7 stories and parking provisions raises concerns about misrepresentation and inadequate planning.
In conclusion, we urge the council to reconsider the proposed development at Cumberland Country Golf Club in light of these objections. It is imperative that the interests and safety of existing residents are prioritised over interests.

Unfortuntely, the street/ area cannot support the infrastructure for car traffic and will defintely bring chaos to a small street. I object the project. In addition to that, the initail project was reported smaller than the current. We kindly ask you to halt this project!

There are many issues that are of concern for local residents and the community. Traffic is of concern on the already narrow roads surrounding the site. An influx of traffic will impact local residents trying to commute through to main roads. Limited information shared on how the development will impact local residents. A large development on a small site is a concern. The possibility of building heights being increased has been mentioned, no clarity. Needs to be more transparency regarding the long term plans for the development.

I was unable to locate in a supportive report an analysis on building and personal safety from errant golf balls. Stage 2 buildings in particular building E & F are vulnerable to wayward tee shots of what will become the first hole. This is presently played as hole 10 and tee shots albeit a low number are (not purposely) hit and end up in the garden bed or hit the cart shed or finish behind the 11th green, the area traversed conflicting with the new buildings location. No only will some building damage occur, occupants could also be hit at some velocity.
Similarly buildings A and C are vulnerable to overhitting to the 11th and 18th greens respectively. This could be from "using too much club" to ensure clearing the water hazards but could also arise from rebounds off sprinkler heads (a total random occurrence that happens at moment) of bounding off hard surfaces such as the new pathways. Again building damage and personal safety is at issue.
A larger separation distance from course boundary to buildings would improve the situation and to restrict occupiers / visitors being able to wander onto the playing areas a continuous physical barrier could be considered.

1. There had been no evidence or information session invitation sent out by the Cumberland Golf Club
2. I became aware of this formal application being in progress after a letter box drop by a Neighbour last Thursday 16/5/2024.
3. Some other neighbours shared the same concern (1) as me
4. I can foresee the major impact to residents in Kootingal Street will be traffic volumes, and parking problems on what is a narrow street, with minimal parking available.
5. It potentially be a bottle neck due to traffic volume entering and exiting Kootingal Street into Old Prospect Road/Cumberlad Road.

1. The Acoustic Report does not investigate / comment on the impact of noise made by use of / activities undertaken on the course (like golfers using practice facilities and teeing off located close to the ILU's nor operations such as greens mowing / bunker raking and like maintenance). Player activity in proximity to the ILU's occurs as early as day break.
2. The Traffic & Transport Report - whilst acknowledging a current shortfall in parking spaces for golfers and promoting an additional 20 spaces to that existing I consider this number will still be short of what is needed on site (and 'prevent' the need to park on street) to accommodate active golfer needs and necessary non-golfing support staff (addition bar staff / additional kitchen staff / etc arising from a larger floor area clubhouse), and in particular
3. The Traffic & Transport Report - does not discuss and evaluate the use of the Function Room and its specific parking needs, [the Function Room is mentioned to accommodate up to 200 persons] with concurrent (or even overlapping) use of the golf course proper and its provided car spaces.
4. A critique for me of the development is there is no clear distinction that the golf Club House and curtilage is not other than intimate with the Senior Living component. The community key that the primary use of the property is that of a golf course will be lost to those traversing the primary frontage - Old Prospect Road. This diminishment is further reinforced by the height of the residential buildings being clearly observable at distance when approaching the address

As a resident of Kootingal Street, Greystanes for the past 13 years I hold great concerns in regards to the above development planned.

Having children, I am highly concerned about the amount of noise and length of time this development will incur and that will affect their studying and down time – this noise will also continue when introducing an additional 350+ residents and additional visitors right at the back of our home which will be a major disturbance.
The traffic that this development will endure during building and afterwards is a high issue seeing that Kootingal Street is quite narrow as it stands and has always been a street used as a short cut by traffic already which is quite disturbing . Adding onto that will definitely add more congestion and hazards to the entire street.
During development cars of workers will conveniently park in our street which would be the closest to the Cumberland Golf Course and again will put all us residents out as most of us need to park on the street already and will be highly inconvenient.
The development is being built behind our house and having a pool I deem this will be very unideal as our privacy will be jeopardised – I have kids that are constantly in the pool and don’t think this would be appropriate seeing their age.
My daughter suffers from intense allergies and having the added dust & pollution from this development and future residents may affect this further
It will devalue all our homes in the street quite dramatically.

We have in the past made multiple complaints to the Golf Course and Cumberland Council about the noise that comes out from the carpark by customers that go to eat there and stand having quite loud chats right at our fence, the noise that comes from all the glass bottles being emptied from the bin and smashing together, the growth from the bottle brush trees over the fence and over our property and the amount of leaves that we must clean daily from our pool (3 broken pool cleaners due to this at our cost) and absolutely NOTHING has been done to rectify any of these issues.
We are highly against this development and I am quite aware that the entire street is too and also submitting submissions… All this must be considered as we are the one who will be inconvenienced, affected, at loss and eventually uprooted from our homes as a result. If considered these should be built at the back of the Golf Course where there will be no disruption to people homes, wellbeing and lives.

Please find the submission in the PDF attachment.

The construction will vastly change the outlook for people living nearby on Old Prospect Road. We will go from a nice outlook to one with nothing but suburbia in view. It will also crowd the area and lead to issues with traffic and parking. I purchased my property knowing the outlook was one of a golf course, not a crowded development like that proposed.

I object to the height of the private dwellings ( 5 to 7 storey buildings). I feel aesthetically and on a privacy basis this would be detrimental to the local residents and the area in general. Cannot understand how the council would approve buildings of this height in this area. Also the access road (Kunyal Pl) off Kootingal St is going to generate an intolerable volume of traffic for the residents.

As a resident living directly across from this proposed Development I have major concerns .I have difficulty already getting out of my driveway on Old Prospect Road due to the heavy traffic, because of Schools ,Church , Aged Care Facility and it is one of Greystanes main Roads. As we live in a low density Residential Environment the Scale of what has now been proposed is NOT WHAT WAS ORIGINALLY voted on by CLUB MEMBERS .As a Member of the Golf Club I understand the need to maintain and improve facilities.But this Proposed development is Out of character for our Area .I sincerely hope this development will not be approved in its present Format

As a resident of Kootingal Street Greystanes for 40 years and a member of Cumberland Country Golf Club for 21 years, I strongly object to this project.
My main objections are the:
- scale of the project especially the increased height of the apartment blocks. This is higher than I had previously been advised. The new height of 5 to 7 stories changes the character of Greystanes.
- accesses to the site, in particular Kunyal Street which comes into Kootingal Street. The additional traffic will affect the lifestyle of us residents in Kootingal, Karuah and Kalang. Old Prospect Road is an extremely busy road. There are four schools nearby which impacts the traffic flow in school pick up/drop off times. The additional access onto Old Prospect Road, near Brighton Street, will cause traffic chaos.

The size of the project is too large for the space that has been allocated. The greed of the developers is clear for all to see with the push for 7 storey buildings in a residential area consisting of one and two storey dwellings. The developers are exploiting the loop hole state significant development under schedule 1, section 28 of State Environmental Planning Policy (planning systems) 2021 to get approval from the government. In the house of truth the primary focus of the developers is to make money by squeezing the maximum number of units into the smallest amount of space. The plans of the development are not future proof with very little space allocated for parking. A development of this size needs more parking spaces than those proposed on the plans. No mention has been made of where the overflow of users will park their cars, caravans, boats, trailers camper vans etc. The surrendering residential streets are not wide enough to absorb this overflow. The selling point that the site has good public transport links is comically as it is not reliable and bus time tables are determined by time of day/night and weekend/week day. It will be a challenge for elderly residents to use public transport thus ensuring a high demand for private vehicle use.

What is the point of building facilities if they are not future proof . For example, the board will get a 3 storey club house for selling out to the developers. Problem being that there is not enough parking for the current clubhouse how can you justify 3 storeys without significantly increasing parking. Dose the Cumberland Board and developers expect the wedding party and their guest to catch public transport or Ubers to their reception as the car park is full of golfing members. Unless done properly it is a waste of time.

The local community and the majority of Cumberland Country Golf Club members have been lied from the outset by the Cumberland Golf Board and the developers. At the members meeting arranged to vote on changing the zoning of the land within the golf course boundary those who attended were told that the development would not exceed 3 stories in height. Many ignorant members with the promise of free drinks and nibbles after the meeting were persuaded to vote in favour of the development. One would assume that the board and developers knew that if past residents and members would be powerless to oppose changes as area is zoned RE2, no height restrictions. In the house of truth the the majority of full paying/social members would have opposed the changing of the zoning if they knew the development would be 7 stories instead of 3 stories.

The developers have benefited from the recent ruling that Old Prospect Road has remnant Cumberland Plans vegetation. This has enabled them to significantly change the height of the development to 7 stories. Buildings of this height will have a detrimental impact on the protected vegetation. They will impact drainage and increase the shading which will stress vegetation leaving them vulnerable to disease and eventual death.

Who will police the removal of those 71 trees on the development site. Which authority will hold the developers accountable for ensuring that there is no damage or unlawful removal of vegetation. Will the penalties been sufficient to ensure developers are not tempted to deliberately destroy vegetation so more units can be built.

It is unethical that significant changes can be made to development plans without a revote. The majority of members who voted yes would have voted no if they knew the changes in height of the development. Furthermore there has been no transparency with the development, the majority of members who voted yes are unaware that plans have changed. Within the club house out dated plans are on display for the public to view they make no mention of the new development heights. What is the board and developers hiding, why do they not have accurate plans on display. Are they scared that there will be a community/members backlash if the truth is exposed

As highlighted in the SEAR's report surrounding areas north, east and west of the proposed development are low density 1 and 2 storey residential housing. A 7 storey development would look out of place in Greystanes. Real estate values of surrounding houses will be detrimentally impacted and privacy will be compromised. When questioned response was that established trees would screen out the development and protect privacy. The trees surrounding the development site are not 7 stories high. This is a clear example of the lack of empathy shown by the developers

This development was well in the pipeline before the current housing crisis and non of the properties in the development fall under affordable housing. The incompetent Cumberland Golf Club board have been played by the developers "they have gone to the pet shop to buy a golf fish but have been sold a piranha instead". The future of the golf club is out of the control of its members, its destiny is in the hands of the developers and the State Government and an incompetent Cumberland Golf Club Board. In years to come will this valuable open space be subdivided to the highest bidder, will there even be a golf course in the future on this site?

Of concern is the lack of diversity on the Cumberland Golf Club Board. The majority are over the age of 55 and many of them have businesses that could benefit from the development going ahead. There has also been a lot of movement on the board recently. Board members instrumental in pushing for the development have stood down and new board members appointed at the discretion of the existing boar. Is there a conflict of interest, have the actions of those current and past board members been ethical. In the house of truth if the board and management of the golf club were competent there would be no need to sell out to the developers to stay afloat. Examples of question decisions by board and management include,

-reduction of raffle prizes on a Thursday/ Friday night
-reduction of frequency of members badge draws on Thursday/ Friday night
-closure of the club to the public to cater for member events that are poorly patronised
-recruitment of members from outside the LGA that do not patronise club house
-boys club mentality that does not encourage new members in particular families to patronise the club
- in denial unaware that social members /non golfing members inject money into the club and
Is it any wonder why potential patrons drive past the club and go to Wenty Leagues instead

The infrastructure in the surrounding streets has not been designed to cater for a development of this size. Within the seniors village there will be approximately 230 independent living units plus 30-50 aged care beds. How is it possible for a development to be approved on estimates. As previously mentioned nobody knows how much parking has been set aside within the development site. From the plans available developers have made a lot of assumptions to justify the volume of independent living units that will be squeezed on site. Build now worry about parking later attitude. In the house of truth the more space set aside for parking the less units that can be built, thus reducing the profit of the developer. More than likely the overflow of vehicles will take the spaces of residents in surrounding streets. Kootingal Street for example has a large number of multi generation house holds. As a consequence many residents need to park cars on the road outside their house as they do not have room. Sharing with space with overflow from the village will create congestion and further narrow the street. Currently cars need to wait until other car passes to safely enter and exit street, image the congestion when ambulances, waste disposal and visitors use the street to access the development. The street is also used as thoroughfare short cut for visitors and residents avoiding morning/afternoon congestion from local school. Speed limits are not adhered to which increase risk to residents reversing out of drives and young children who use the park within Kootingal street.

It makes no sense to approve a development of this scale without traffic plans. Will roads be widened, will there be speed humps/roundabouts, traffic lights etc. Who will pay for these. These cost's should be the sole responsibility of the developer not the rate payers of Greystanes

Area where the club house and independent living units are to be built accumulates a lot of run off in heavy rain and floods, yet it requires no further assessment beyond industry specific SEARS. How is this possible, if golf carts can not be driven in these locations after rain how is it not a flood risk

For the residents that buy into this development are they aware that they are living on a golf course. Are they aware that the occasion stray golf ball may damage there property, are they aware that green keepers will be using heavy/loud machinery early in the morning, are they aware that fertilisers will create odours etc. Will the golf club be allowed to function in the manner it currently functions or will new residents living in the development dictate what can and can not be done

In conclusion I am opposed to this development as it will not benefit the majority. This is a clear example of a money making development that fails to take into consideration the current and future needs of the rate payers of Greystanes. The lack of vision in terms of allocated car parking and the heights of the proposed buildings will destroy Greystanes for future generations. Infrastructure such as roads and public transport are struggling now, how will they cope if a development of this scale is approved. If approved this development will open up a pandoras box, the future of all open space will be at the mercy of developers and the State Government looking for easy revenue

Greystanes/Pemuwuy areas are already saturated with aged care and retirement homes – we don’t need anymore retirement living or as such.
1. Genista Aged Care Facility (opposite the golf club)
2. Greystanes Nursing Home
3. Southern Cross Care Greystanes Residential Aged Care
4. Estia Health Cumberland Road Greystanes
5. Bolton Clarke Pemulwuy Residential and Aged Care
6. Nelson Grove Retirement Community Pemulwuy

Lack of medical centres and pharmacies – A lot of our GPs have left the areas for the past few years and there is no new medical centre being setup for the past 15 years. All existing medical centres have only 1 or 2 doctors. This is due to the increase in consultation fees. As most GPs here do not charge additional consultation fees for pensioners, the GPs are unable to earn extra for their services. Because of this, none of the medical centres in Greystanes and Pemulwuy accepts new patient at moment. Additionally, the pharmacies are not accepting any new Webster patients except Discount Drug Store in Greystanes. Even then, the number of Webster patients have skyrocketed to 140 and recently they are unable to accept anymore.

Kunyal Place – The gate that connects the golf club to Kootingal Street has always been used for the purpose of gardening use of the golf club; where garden ute, trailers or tree loopers can drive through when necessary. Although, it is rarely open and used. This entry/exit should not be used as a gateway and thorough-fare for the residences of the new 234 units, 3 storeys of residential facility, THE STAFF AND THEIR GUESTS.

Kootingal Street – Kootingal Street is not a main street. Instead, it is a small, narrow rectangular shaped road that goes around for the sole use of the Kootingal residences and our guests only. Most of our houses have 3 to 5 bedrooms. We have on average of 2 or more cars per household. Due to the cost of living crisis, some of the houses have two families living in one house. As a result, there are numerous cars parked on both sides of the street; making the street a one-way street especially in the afternoon and evening. On the weekend, the street kerb is a chockablock as residences stay at home we have guests coming over for gathering. This makes our street very congested enough without taking into account the additional numbers construction trucks, tradies utes, the future new residences and the staff likely want to find parking in our street for additional parking spots; and using our street as thoroughfare. In shorts, this will cause severe congestion and there is absolutely no way, our street can be used as thorough-fare for the new golf residences.

The 234 units – I’ve noticed that some of the units have 2 or 3 bedrooms. For retirement homes, I’m rather suspicious of the reasons of that 3 bedrooms been built. This will enable the apartments to be used as a family residence instead of being solely used for the purpose of retirement living.

5 – 7 storeys – Our Greystanes has always been a low density suburb. Building such high apartments will block the western sun the view of the golf course. For the Kootingal residences on the western side, we do not want others in multi storey blocks looking down into their houses. Hence, this housing development does not align with the community goals and expectations in Kootingal St and Greystanes.

Low density area - area with no railway line and metro. There are a few bus lines. Even so, you need to take two buses just to get to our nearest railway station (Pendle Hill Train Station). I can’t see this is a good place for a big retirement group living.

we have significant concerns in regard to traffic management
1] increased traffic in Kootingal st as street is very narrow, requires cars to give way if even 1 car is parked on side of road, most families have 2 vehicles.
2} The use of Kunyal st both during construction but ongoing access for the subsequent 99 years
3] impact on resale values of a once quiet st/ cul-de-sac morphing into a busy construction and resident access road - what is going to cost me?
4] potential lack of parking for golf club members and visitors in particular on busy golf days.
5] during one of the "public consultations" the general dismissal of traffic concerns re points 1 to 4
6] why isn't Brighton st not being considered as access to village? road is wider and has housing on only one side of road
7] during a community webinar majority of area inclusive of Kootingal st lost internet late in presentation and were not given opportunity to qualify points 1 to 4 - my request for copy of presentation was rejected even though they knew we lost internet
8] suggest that many in our street have no computer or skills to navigate the creation of account etc. to be able to submit additionally I know of at least one couple overseas on holiday - so reply count will not be an accurate representation of residents in particular those who have been here for years

We as a street all have concerns about the traffic and congestion this project will have on our street. Also the devalue of the houses that are currently facing the beautiful golf course side. Can this project be moved elsewhere even suggesting the side of Brighton street greystanes, as no homes back onto the golf course / the road is much wider for traffic to be controlled. We have a lot of children and families in our street that use the park on Kootingal street. We also don't want our children being hurt or injured due to increased amount of traffic coming onto our street. The road is already very narrow with residents parking up and down the street. We as a street are against this planned action. We also noticed not everyone on the street has been made aware of this plan and only certain neighbours received letters in the mail and not the whole street. Hence why residents are now taking action and informing each other in person. A lot of residents on our street have lived here for 40+ years and we don't want this to happen.

I very much oppose this project
This is way too big, such an eye sore and nothing comes close to this size within the community. This is going go to create more traffic on old prospect which is already a very busy not to mention that intersection already known to have accidents
There is already other aged care facilities very close and there fore no need for another that large
Honestly the whole physical profile of this suburb will change and the fact that even in Pemulwuy nothing comes close to this size is telling
I cannot oppose this enough 5 to 7 storeys is ridiculous

It’s going to create too much traffic in a position that there is already accidents. There is already an aged care facility close.
It’s not the correct location for a massive building like what’s proposed .

I am a concerned resident of Kootingal st and am writing to advise my concerns on this development. Plans for this development have change and is considerably larger in size. (Each building is between 5-7 stories not the original height that we were told) and means a lot more traffic to the area. Kootingal st is a very congested street and is not designed for this amount of traffic. We already struggle to drive through the street.
Kootingal st cannot handle any more overflow of traffic or parking, especially on peak periods. 5-7 story buildings are not common in the area and will harm the overall landscape of the suburb. A more suitable design should be considered like only 2 stories high to match the landscape in the area.
We moved here for the quietness of the street but bringing such large structures to the area is just not acceptable. Please listen to the residents views as we are the ones that will have live with these consequences. Thank you