Council’s Development Control Plan (DCP) is on public exhibition until November 11. It’s an improvement on current policy, but still requires developments in the rural fringe (1c) area to have a sealed road to the nearest existing sealed road.
Some properties in (1c) have council-maintained unsealed roads several hundred metres in length. It’s reasonable to require developers of a 10-lot subdivision to seal access roads – future residents will be the main users and should contribute to infrastructure costs.
But this will also affect individuals who want to build just one new house, or subdivide an existing block into two. It will still be necessary to seal the entire road to the new development, even if the existing road serves several other houses and only a single new house is to be built.
Residents often don’t understand the complexities of Council policy, so are forced to appeal to Council if they are affected by rules they believe are unfair.
People who think they might be affected by this policy might wish to respond to the public exhibition, suggesting some limit on the cost of sealing council-maintained roads in proportion to the scale of the proposed development.
Submissions must be received by council by 5pm, Friday, November 11.
Dorothy L Robinson,
Armidale Dumaresq Councillor
