A proposed 457-home development in Kilworth, west of London, is drawing the ire of residents, who say local politicians aren’t listening to their objections about the size and density of the project.

“I want to make it very clear we’re not opposed to development. We’re opposed to bad development,”

said Kilworth Komoka Rate Payers Association spokesperson Darren Micallef.

“We elected the mayor and council to look after our best interests and not to hide from them,” he said.

Some of the lots would be just 10 metres (33 feet) wide, a contrast to some of the large houses on large lots that dominate the community.

The group even took the rare step of commissioning a poll, conducted by Mainstreet pollsters earlier this month, to gauge residents’ confidence in their council.

Almost 90 per cent said they were somewhat concerned or very concerned that Middlesex Centre council was not managing development in the best interests of the community.

They also expressed concern that the planned development was large enough that it could cause sewage overflows into environmentally sensitive areas.

Micallef said the development would change the dynamics of the community and create traffic and environmental issues.

The subdivision is one of the largest proposed in Middlesex Centre, a fast-growing London-area community that also includes Ilderton, Delaware and Poplar Hill. And it illustrates how a growing number of people look to the exurbs to live and retire or to commute to London.

The plan by Tridon Developments is to build 457 single-family homes, 91 townhomes, a school and parks within the 55 hectares that front Glendon Drive near Jeffries Road.

Middlesex Centre Mayor Al Edmondson said council has asked the developer to rework its plans several times in the past few years. “Ultimately, if you’re going to have a vibrant community, you absolutely have to have different styles of housing for different people,” Edmondson said. “If you don’t have all of that, you’re going to have a very stilted community.”

Micallef called it barracks-style housing, and his group is concerned especially that these will be long rows of “snout houses,” narrow homes dominated by garages that jut out from the main living space.

A public meeting is to take place Wednesday evening on a proposed Official Plan amendment in which Tridon requests to be able to build homes with main entrances set back a maximum three metres from the garage.

But Tridon president Don deJong said, “We’re not looking to do snout housing at all. We have no intention of doing snout housing.”

The garage won’t be the dominant feature of any of the houses, he said. Instead, a break in the front elevation of a narrow home, if done well, makes it an attractive design feature.

“The most important thing for us is that we are looking to have an attractive development because that’s what makes a good community,” de Jong said.

Tridon’s report to council notes it has made “significant compromises” throughout the process.

Micallef said his group has supported other developments in the past and its objections aren’t a case of not-in-my-backyard. But, he argued, Kilworth offers a country-like setting that can’t be found in a place with high-volume traffic and lots too small for a yard or driveway.

Edmondson said he believes the community can thrive only with a diversity of population and housing types. “Times change. If you’re going to have vibrant communities, you have to make that appealing. It doesn’t mean you make things cheap. It means you make things well.”

deb.vanbrenk@sunmedia.ca

twitter.com/Debatlfpress