It’s been 18 months since Riddells Creek residents won the battle to stop a supermarket precinct being built in their town, but now they have a fresh fight on their hands in the form of a proposed housing development.
Last year, Macedon Ranges Shire Council voted to not extend the timeline for the shopping centre developer in what was a David versus Goliath battle for the residents.
After a 10-year campaign, the town’s residents — led by advocacy group Getting Riddell Right — stopped the development of a supermarket, 16 shops, a café and a car park, saying it was the wrong design for the area.
But now, that Station Street land has new owners and the group is concerned about potential additional developments across the town.
Wrong design, wrong place, say residents
Getting Riddell Right member Ross Colliver is calling for the designs for a new housing development to be made public.
He said the medium-density housing slated for Amess Road would be better located south of the town centre.
“We haven’t seen very much at all,” he said.
“We’ve seen an A4 page sketch of how the area might be laid out and had a discussion with the council through the end of 2019.
The development of the Amess Road precinct structure plan (PSP) follows the structure plan passed by Macedon Ranges Shire Council in 2013.
In 2017, the Victorian planning minister and the council designated the area as an Urban Growth Zone.
A PSP is a blueprint for space and sets out how the space is to be used, such as where houses should be and what they should look like. In August, the council voted to remain the planning authority for the PSP.
Sector Advantage, the developer of the Amess Road PSP, claims an additional 2,700 people will move to Riddells Creek over the next 15 years.
Sector Advantage did not respond to questions from the ABC.
Mayor says collaboration is ‘up to the developer’
Macedon Ranges Mayor Jennifer Anderson said it was up to Sector Advantage to decide if it wanted to work with Riddells Creek residents.
“I think it’s always up to the developer to decide who they want to work with,” Cr Anderson said.
Getting Riddell Right says housing meant for the Amess Road development on the north-east side of the town is too dense.
About 1,200 new homes are slated for the Amess Road PSP with lots measuring between 476 and 1,000 square metres in size.
Mr Colliver said this medium-density housing should be located closer to the town centre, to the south of the railway station.
“The Precinct Structure Plan for Amess Road is only for the new residential area on the north-east side of town. And we were unhappy with that being chosen above what’s known locally as the Daffodil Farm site.”
A tale of two developments
The impending release of the PSP comes as developers in the neighbouring town, Clarkefield, release design guidelines for their housing development.
The 26-hectare Clarkefield site proposal includes a sustainable, carbon-neutral greenfield development.
This week, the developers, APD Projects, released the design guidelines that will steer the look of the neighbourhood.
The new township plans to have community batteries, solar panels and eventually a solar farm.
Design guidelines are used to assist landowners, their architects, and builders to design future homes to complement the rest of a new township.
The development plan for the 26-hectare site is expected to be lodged with the Macedon Ranges Shire Council by APD Projects in the next few months.
Mr Colliver said the developers in Clarkefield had worked with residents on the plan, and Riddells Creek residents deserved to see the same collaboration on proposed developments in their backyard.
“That it would be low-energy, pedestrian-based, well-linked to the existing transport infrastructure of the town.
“But so far, we haven’t had any evidence that that’s where the development’s going here.”
