This development is totally inappropriate for the blue mountains.

This project is not going to benefit the community or provide affordable housing for the area. It jeopardizes the natural environment without benefitting anyone except the developers.

The strain on the local services will increase without the proper support from state government.

It will potentially endanger people’s lives by not being built is a suitable area due to bushfire risk.
The blue mountains needs a solution for more housing. But this is not it.

I do not support this project. It needs to be rethought by people who know the area and how the natural landscape will affect the development. And the development will affect the natural area.
Do not let this building happen in its current form.

I totally oppose this project for the following reasons:
1/ As a nearby resident for many years I am concerned about the damage that could occur to the public land area adjacent to the proposal. This would be unavoidable considering the amount of hard surface stormwater run-off to the current dam system.
2/ The proposal will be double the height and floor space controls allowed under the Blue Mountains Local Environmental Plan 2015 for this site. How has the developer been allowed to ignore this?
3/ Public Transport is limited to the site as it is well outside the town centre and railway station.
4/ Road access is limited to roads that are either Private or extremely narrow. Access will not be allowed through the Escarpments.
5/The site is in a highly prone bushfire area with fire evacuation challenges.
6/ The site is on the edge of the escarpment of the World Heritage Area and will be visible from all vantage points within Katoomba as well over shadowing nearby residents. This is totally unacceptable.
7/The site is also at the top of Katoomba Creek Falls catchment therefore creating an environmental impact on the downstream environment.
8/ The proposal is extremely crowded and very little space between buildings. This is a problem to our Local Emergency Services that have limited equipment and manpower.
9/ Finally, this monstrosity of a development will devalue the properties that exist on Narrow Neck Road and those of the Escarpments, plus ruin the beautiful outlook I currently enjoy. This is why I live here.

1 This proposed development is out of character for the location in the middle of a World Heritage area.
2 Its appearance will be an eyesore visible from every direction.
3 The extra number of cars and people will create extra danger during bushfires, with the only access road being a narrow single lane road.
4 The proposed development is not within walking distance of the railway station or shops. Any new residents will be relying on private vehicles or an irregular bus service.
5 I strongly object to this proposal being determined to be of State Significance, thereby bypassing the right of local government to veto it. Local governments represent the local residents and without that, we have no voice on these matters.
6 This proposed development does not fit with the housing strategy of new homes being built within 1km of a railway station.

I strongly object to the project and have outlined objections in the attached document. I support the positions of the Blue Mountains City Council and Blue Mountains Conservation Society in their objections

To whom it may concern,

I would like to express my opposition to the proposed development at 142-150 Narrow Neck Road, Katoomba. I am also writing to oppose the use of the Housing Delivery Authority (HDA) pathway in the Blue Mountains.

Having being born in the blue mountains and spending the majority of my life living and working in this area, a development proposal such as the one on Narrow Neck Rd concerns me greatly due to the impacts that such over-development would have on our local infrastructure and for the poor precedent that this would set for future projects in the beautiful part of the world.

I spent my childhood walking around the cliff-side tracks around Narrow Neck and have continued to do so into my adult life, appreciating the tranquility and spectacular scenery that this area has to offer. Over-development of these areas so close to the national park would see increased traffic and urbanisation which would erode the environment and character of this area and also negatively affect current and future bush fire risk strategies as a result.

Working in a public facing health care role, I know that many members of the blue mountains community share these same concerns. We don’t want our beautiful towns to reflect an urban sprawl similar to the city. The approval of projects such as these would be the catalyst for this and we risk diminishing the beauty and character of our lovely home within a national park. Please reconsider and work with local Blue Mountains residents on how new housing and development can be appropriately, sensitively and safely designed.

Submission: Development Proposal 142-150 Narrow Neck Road, Katoomba

I oppose the development at 142-150 Narrow Neck Road for the following reasons:

1. As a long term resident of the Blue Mountains – nearly 35 years – I value the beauty and calm of the natural environment and feel strongly that the proposed development threatens that peace. My family and I enjoy bushwalking in the area and I am worried that environmental degradation of natural ecosystems will result from the proposed development. For example, the Blue Mountains swamps are especially threatened by change, and the development could disrupt natural water flow and substantially increase pollution in the area. These outcomes will negatively impact local residents and the World Heritage Area.

2. Secondly, I feel that this site is not well suited to large scale development due to its location within bushfire prone land. The Blue Mountains Council has said that increasing the area’s residential population is a dangerous risk to life.

3. Finally, I would like to negatively comment on the NSW Housing Development Authority’s undermining of the Blue Mountains Council’s Local Environmental Plan. Many years of considered community consultation have resulted in the area’s unique environmental controls, which have been totally ignored by the Housing Development Authority’s pathway.

This proposal represents an unjustified departure from the Blue Mountains Local Environmental Plan 2015, with excessive height and floor space ratio increases that cannot be supported under Clause 4.6.

It is inconsistent with the objects of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, fails Ecologically Sustainable Development principles, and conflicts with the Biodiversity and Conservation SEPP.

Established NSW Land and Environment Court decisions (Initial Action, Four2Five, Moskovich) confirm that developments of this scale and incompatibility should be refused.

The proposal will result in environmental harm, increased bushfire risk, infrastructure strain, and irreversible damage to the character of Katoomba.

The application should be refused.

I am amazed that this project would even be considered. High density four to five story apartments, high fire risk, limited vehicular access, no plans for any road infrastructure upgrades/ escape corridors, no utilities at the local fire department to deal with an emergency.

I moved to a property in Glencoe Rd Katoomba in 2020. I did so because of the peace and quiet, the surrounding bushland and the prettiness of the area.Since being here I have been amazed and delighted at the bird life-king parrots, rosellas-crimson and eastern,magpies, currawongs,butcher birds,a family of bower birds with bower in the bush next door, white and black cockatoos,kookaburras, and once, two young lyre birds at the back door.
The proposed development would utterly destroy the serenity of the place. All the birds would leave, there will be noise and disruption all the time. Glencoe Road is a one car width road, utterly unable to cope with traffic increases.Narrow Neck Road is also fairly narrow, and in a time of bushfire it would be a chaotic scene with traffic management. Any additional population will make extreme demands on the management of traffic all the time, let alone during a bushfire emergency. There were fires burning on the western slope of the Narrow Neck ridge in December 2019, and only the wind direction kept the fire from sweeping over the road.This bushfire risk will not go away.
There is in addition the slope of the land, which alone should make large building on this site prohibited The slope also determines the amount and velocity of run off water, currently a slow speed . Water running quickly off large areas of hard surface will adversely impact the ecology and water systems of the land of the golf course below.
The site prop0sed for this large development is 20 minutes by bus and 5 minutes by car from the Katoomba town centre, in an area of quiet bushland and low development.It is entirely inappropriate and I am very opposed to it on the grounds outlined above.