By VANESSA VALENZUELA
WYNDHAM Council has rejected a plan to build more than 5000 new homes on a Wyndham Vale flood plain.
At last week’s council meeting, councillors opposed the draft Precinct Structure Plan for Black Forest Road South which was released by the Growth Areas Authority (GAA) earlier this year.
The council knocked back the plan after fears the lack of road infrastructure in the area would add to traffic congestion problems in Wyndham.
The new housing estate, which covers almost 510 hectares of land, will allow the development of 5200 new homes and is expected to bring almost 15,000 new residents to the municipality.
The proposed area located between Black Forest and Bulban Rd has plans for four schools, a community centre and sport and recreation facilities.
At the meeting, the council called for the adoption of a strategy to limit the release of housing lots in the area to reduce strain on Wyndham’s road network.
However, a report to councillors said the lot release strategy would rely on the council resolving to raise a very large and long term loan to support it.
The council also supported a move to create a new railway station site next to the Browns Rd level crossing to manage growth in the municipality.
Council candidate Marcel Mahfoud said the refusal was “an important step for Wyndham City” and claimed the council had not received enough time by the GAA to consider the plan.
“We need to spend some decent time on this. It’s not something that can be rushed through,” he said.
“We cannot continue to grow in the way we’re growing. We cannot rush through precinct structure plans. They need to be carefully managed.”
