I suspect that residents on the eastern side of Balmoral Street (the side not rezoned) are going to be very upset at having to look directly across the road at 5 story apartment blocks.

Has Hornsby Council really done its best to consider other locations which would have less impact on remaining residents? I don't think so.

What is wrong with building multi storey apartment buildings along the Pacific Highway at Waitara instead of 5 storey apartments in Park Ave and Balmoral Street?

Pacific Highway would be less intrusive, close to the rail and is a wider road with good access. These apartments would overlook the railway, the highway & other apartment blocks much like what has been happening along the Pacific Highway southbound.

No more development until inadequacies in infrastructure services like schools and power supply are addressed. I have looked in vain for details about the impact of the proposed population increase on such services and any plans for their upgrade.

Waitara Public School has increased its intake by approx 25% since the current set of units were built, and will presumably increase by a similar amount again under the proposal. The school however is already overcrowded with the small play areas being encroached upon and has very limited land to accommodate new classrooms. The only way this could occur would be to knock down existing single storey classrooms, replacing them with multi-storey ones.

Summer now brings regular disruptions in power supply due to the increased load more dwelling put on the existing system. These breaks will almost certainly increase under the proposal.

I am sure that these problems are now unique to Waitara and other precincts will suffer the same problems.

Please show how these issues are to be addressed BEFORE development proceeds.

Balmoral Street is the best street in Waitara. It is quiet with well-maintained houses and leafy trees. The Waitara Precinct proposes 5 storey apartments to be built on the west side of the street. The beautiful Balmoral Street will be destroyed. It is especially intrusive to the residents on the east side of the street that is not re-zone. The value of their land will drop dramatically if the proposal is going ahead.

The council should choose area with lower land value, or street with older houses or under-develop. It does not make sense for the council to choose the most prestige street in Waitara for re-development.

Both sides should be re-zoned if a street is chosen for re-zone. The housing density should reduce gradually, not 5 storey apartment on one side and houses on the other side of the same street.

Waitara is supposedly 1665 dwellings down on what is considered its "sustainable dwelling yield". But this is only because it is being grouped with Hornsby! This is just not fair. Hornsby is what is down on its sustainable dwelling yield - NOT Waitara!!!

If Waitara was considered an area in its own right then it would be operating at well over capacity.

Why should Waitara residents have to carry the burden for Hornsby Town Centre? Waitara has already contributed its fair share to high density living.

There are so many places within a combined Hornsby / Waitara to propose rezoning but where does Council choose? Balmoral Street Waitara of course. The only street left in Waitara for families wanting to live in houses rather than units.

The selection of Balmoral Street Waitara is surely against the stated objectives of the Housing Strategy which is to provide housing diversity for residents. Unless I am mistaken, all Council is doing in Waitara is removing what is left of housing diversity and making it a very one dimensional unit city.

Should Waitara residents have to move out of the suburb to buy a house with a backyard? Try telling that to residents of other suburbs, particularly those sacred sites of Beecroft, Cheltenham and Pennant Hills which have somehow managed to escape attention.

The very selection of Balmoral Street Waitara smacks of Council taking the easy option. Poor form Hornsby Council.

I would have thought Hornsby Council be finding ways to "reclaim" back land in Waitara rather transforming it into a concrete eyesore.

Waitara was well & truly sold out to developers even before this latest re-zoning proposal. There are many old 3/4 story unit blocks in Hornsby CBD which can be re-developed, rather than encroaching into what's left in Waitara!

Traffic along Alexandria Pde & Park Ave has increased to the point where the roads & street parking are no longer adequate to deal with the increased population.

Waitara has become a parking lot for the following:

Waitara Railway Station (many from surrounding suburbs)

Existing & surrounding units (including Hornsby)

Waitara Oval

Millennium Gym Waitara

Asquith Leagues Club

Waitara Tennis courts

Waitara bowling club

Waitara retirement village (Waitara Ave)

Willow Park Community Centre

Blue Gum Hotel

Balmoral St Child Care Centre

Waitara Public School

Seven Day Adventist Church

Trades/business persons lunch break at Waitara Oval

Commercial businesses within Waitara & Hornsby (Westfield shopping Center, car dealerships/repairs etc.)

All of the above are competing for parking space.

Waitara must be Sydney's first micro metropolis.

Your proposal to rezone this area to 5 story residential flat buildings resulting in 424 additional dwellings will in my opinion place enormous pressure on the existing recreational facilities. At any given time there are always large groups of adults and families using Waitara Park or waiting to use them when sporting events or team training is taking priority over community use. Further Willow Park is always at capacity use. Providing additional housing for possibly in excess of another 1,000 people would be a travesty without first providing further recreational land use. Figures published by the Advocate tell us that the proportion of green space to residents, for Waitara is already within the worst 5 suburbs in Sydney.

Are we not risking our reputation as the ‘Bushland Shire’? Would council be content with the risk of being ridiculed as the ‘Concrete Shire? Where do our children play?

Council has a viable alternative if it considers rezoning the area to the west of Hornsby railway station bounded by the Pacific Highway, Jersey street, William street, and Dural street. There are already lots of parkland in the pool area and the potential to develop further green space. High-rise apartments with a streetscape of boutique shops would not only provide additional housing but would also provide an injection of ‘life and vitality’ to the precinct and boost the numbers of consumers with close access to Westfield shopping center.

The NSW Planning Minister Kristina Keneally has publicly stated that the housing strategy of her government (702 ABC radio Thursday 7th May) is aimed at providing a diversity of housing options in all suburbs to allow older residents the opportunity to remain within their communities if they elect to downsize.

I fail to see how the Council of the Hornsby Shire is applying this principle to the Waitara precinct. By approving the strategy as it exists then only 2 options exist…high density or single story housing (with the possibility of paying excessive rates due to re zoning).

If we accept the principles of the State planning model then Waitara MUST be allowed to have a range of housing available from the existing 8 and 3 stories through single stories and town houses.

Waitara serves as an example to the rest of Sydney of how Town Planing can go terribly wrong.

Councils across Sydney should use Waitara as the subject of a Case Study to ensure their own municipalities don't share its fate.

We constantly hear Waitara mentioned in this forum as the example for all the wrong reasons. Further development in Waitara would equate to total rape of a once quiet leafy suburb.

Let's not forget the trees which surrounded Waitara Park. Council cut them down 7 years ago, they claimed it was for safety reasons, I say that was an excuse. Developers wanted uninterrupted views of the oval. The trees have been there for 100 years & no deaths to mention!

I hope everyone who commented here has sent a letter or email to council and also cc'd Barry O'Farrell and Judy Hopwood. I'm sorry I don't have their addresses, but please get your letters in. The closing date for submissions is June 1, unless this is extended. The Waitara housing strategy is an abomination. How Mr Scott Phillips and his planning division and their hired consulting guns came up with it defies urban planning logic The dominant housing in Waitara is already multi-unit. Waitara already has the highest high density housing by far in the Shire. This strategy will turn Waitara in a urban high rise ghetto.

One area of Waitara that perhaps should be targetted for apartments. The West side, Pacific Highway. all the area considered within easy walking distance of the station.

It surely has to be completely illogical to preserve an area next to the station for car based businesses!

As many car "yards" are now moving into "showrooms", why not zone this area for 5 storey mixed residential and commercial ? I'm sure that over the years quite a few would be redeveloped with residential above and showrooms, workshops and various commercial below.

Mind you, that might require some real imgination on the part of the planners. Perhaps a bit too much of an ask ?