Dear Mr Chris Eldred,

Please find attached the submission to the proposed development SSD-84430209 at 156-166 Rickard Road Leppington.
We are concerned that the proposal does not exhibit urban design excellence and have made a number of recommendations for amendments to the proposal that could lift the proposal to a higher urban design outcome.

Kind regards,
Michael Gheorghiu
on behalf of Leppington24 Pty Ltd

Submission of Objection: Leppington Town Centre Proposal
Attention: The Assessing Planning Officer / NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure: Objection to the Proposed Development Adjacent to Leppington Public School / High School Site (Rickard Road, Leppington
Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to formally lodge my strong objection to the current development proposal for the site immediately adjacent to the Leppington school precinct on Rickard Road.
While I support the strategic growth of the Leppington Town Centre, this specific proposal represents a severe departure from community expectations, critical infrastructure capability, and previous council master plans. Crucially, those original master plans—which designated the adjacent land as a green park—had already been formally reviewed and approved by NSW Planning before the documents were released to the public for submissions. By abandoning the approved framework, this proposal undermines the community's trust in the integrity of the planning process. I urge the assessing authority to reject this proposal in its entirety based on the following grounds:
1. Severe Amenity Impacts: Overshadowing and Loss of Privacy
Overshadowing: The scale and height of the proposed development will directly overshadow the adjacent school grounds. Restricting sunlight to student play areas, classrooms, and outdoor learning spaces is detrimental to student well-being.
Loss of Privacy: The proposed built form offers direct visual overlooking into school grounds. A high-density footprint built right next to a school creates a critical privacy and student safety vulnerability that cannot be mitigated by standard screening.

2. Conflict with Camden Council’s Strategic Vision (Draft Town Centre Plan) Inconsistency with Public Exhibition Plans: During the public exhibition of the draft plans for the Leppington Town Centre Review Planning Proposal submitted by Camden Council, this specific allotment was designated as a green area park / public open space.
Need for Rezoning Consistency: The community accepted that draft vision on the understanding that vital green buffers would protect the school site. The current proposal completely disregards that planned buffer. The property should be returned to its intended zoning as a public park. link to Camden Council Leppington Town Centre draft exhibition https://yourvoice.camden.nsw.gov.au/leppington-town-centre
3. Critical Infrastructure Deficit and Traffic Gridlock on Rickard Road
Current Traffic Failures: Rickard Road is already operating beyond its safe capacity. Traffic regularly queues aggressively, backing up significantly from Edmondson \Avenue Austral through to the Ingleburn Road intersection.
School Opening Pressures: With the co-located Leppington Public School upgrades and the new Leppington High School coming online, thousands of additional daily student and parent movements will flood this corridor.
Premature Development: Rickard Road cannot sustain any further high-density development or construction load until the road is fully widened to its future four-lane urban standard.
4. Equitable Alternatives for the Developer
Developer Land Holdings: The developer behind this proposal holds significant alternative land holdings and development footprints across the broader Leppington Town Centre precinct.
Opportunity for Land Swaps/Compensation: Because the developer has ample opportunity to absorb and reallocate their density targets elsewhere in the town centre, the authority has a clear pathway to negotiate a land swap or acquisition. This allows the property next to the school to be retained as a green park buffer without compromising overall regional housing targets.


Conclusion The proposed development fails the public interest test by compromising student safety, exacerbating a severe regional traffic crisis, and breaking the strategic promise of the original exhibited Camden Council draft plans.
I request that this application be refused and that the site be zoned strictly for open space and parklands as originally intended.
Thank you for considering this submission.