Please see submission attached.

Although the idea of developing land in the mountains is sound, there are two key issues with such a development to the community and the nature around it.

The first is the traffic. Narrow neck road and the surrounding areas are popular with tourist and events, with freqrunt trail running festivals and conventions being held at the KCC. The traffic’s situation is so severe already that on weekend, there is frequently lines of cars parked all along the road. Adding such a large quantity of new housing to the area would create a situation where there is simply too many people trying to move around in a place that has not been upgraded to handle that sort of volume. The road is at the end of the day very narrow.

The second issue is disturbance of a naturally beautiful area. Building in the blue mountains, for better or worse, become part of the scenery. People travel from all over the world to see our blue mountains and to alter it with an apartment block where one ought not be, is simply an untenable idea. A house in the area is a reasonable idea but apartment risks changing th area in such a significant way that it risks removing some of its inherent charm.

I object to the construction of such a large scale and highly condensed group of high rise buildings in the heart of Katoomba. I believe this is not a suitable use of land in this location and would have an immense impact on the sensitive environment we live in as well as town road conditions. I also believe a complex like this would be an eyesore and does not align with the character and culture of the blue mountains.

This density of housing will impact the visual aesthetics of a heritage town, is too close to the national park to create higher density housing (considerations around bushfire etc) and will create congestion on roads that are already not well resourced with safe places for the public to walk. Not near the train station, so the increase to cars in the area would be dramatic and concerns about construction close to the location of various critically endangered plants and their habitats like the Leioneima lachnioides and Pherosphaera fitzgeraldii are concerning. We don’t need more low quality builds that will decay quickly and cause disturbance to the adjacent world heritage wilderness. We need more affordable housing in Katoomba, not high priced accommodation. Are there plans for evacuation coming into an incredibly dry and hotter than average winter and increased serious weather events due to climate change?

I object to the building of this monstrosity as it would be nothing but detrimental to the environment and the community in the area. Please heed our voice and do not condone the construction of this eyesore.

I strongly object the proposal
Katoomba should maintain its heritage and low rise single housing
Mid rise should not be supported

see attached

This area is not suitable for so many apartments for a number of reasons, but mainly because there is not the infrastructure to support it.

It is too far to walk to the commercial area of Katoomba so will increase traffic in what is already a congested traffic area with insufficient parking and there are no buses. This also makes it unsuitable for those without cars which may include older residents, tourists or affordable housing residents.

The increase in population will put pressure on the already stretched Blue Mountains Hospital and local schools, as well as GP services. There is no allocation within this housing development for essential workers such as nurses, doctors, aged care workers and teachers which is a sad oversight.

It will just put more people and traffic into the area without providing the support for a growing community to function well, especially given nearly 25% of the development will be serviced apartments.

If a new development has to go ahead somewhere near the train line on the north side of the highway would make much more sense so that there is access to public transport, and would also have a lower risk for bushfire. Narrow Neck Rd is absolutely the wrong location for this and it will not work.