On 25 May 2011, close to 200 members of the local community attempted to attend “consultation” sessions with the developer of the Mills. Sadly, many residents were turned away due to “over subscription”. In a nutshell, concerns including traffic implications, the design and scale of the proposal, lack of amenity and the negative impact on our unique heritage village.
Mills consultation - 25 May 2011
Below is an example of the concerns of the Summer Hill community with respect to the proposed redevelopment of the Mills [*names and details have been changed to respect privacy].
“Firstly, I would like to make it clear that I think it is a positive step that the old Flour Mills site is being developed, It is a lovely historic site and I think (if done the right way) development of the site will add to the charm and quality of what is one of the nicest areas to live in Sydney.
However, I am gravely concerned over the scale and size of the proposed development and the impact that the enormous increase in residents and cars in what is a very small geographical area will have on our local shops, services, roads, open spaces, childcare facilities and schools.
I am deeply concerned that the development does not bring any new real essential services to the area, and therefore will only cripple our already ‘at capacity’ local facilities. The intention to develop the site with a number of 10+ storey high rise buildings in a suburb that has only low to mid level buildings, seems totally incongruent to retaining the integrity and character of the historic site and the heritage standing of the suburb.
Due to the narrowing of the roads around the train line and the era of the street layout, it is already a very high traffic area….
I can see nothing in the proposed development that takes responsibility for a solution to this extremely significant issue. How do you propose to manage the massive increase in road traffic to the area, with the significant increase in residents?
The residents of Summer Hill are predominantly middle income professional people, many with young children, the current proposed development seems to completely disregard the services required for these kind of families – namely – childcare, open space, recreational facilities and schools.
I am significantly concerned over the lack of foresight and sustainability that the current proposed development offers, and I look forward to receiving more information from you after the information night, on how you intend to manage the many significant challenges that the current development raises.” [Summer Hill resident, May 2011]
Send through your comments to shactiongroup@hotmail.com.
