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Keiraville residents plan to take their campaign against "overdevelopment" on a steep bush block at the back of their suburb all the way to the NSW Planning Minister. It was standing room only at a public meeting on Saturday, as people gathered at Gwynneville's Masonic Centre to discuss how to fight a plan to develop a large lot at 14 Cosgrove Avenue into 47 closely stacked homes. To be known as "The Cosgrove" the plan would, if approved, include five buildings of three-and-four-bedroom homes. Lodged with the council in January, it immediately attracted criticism, with residents concerned about building in a high fire risk zone and how it would add to traffic and parking issues. These concerns - as well as worries about flooding, land slippage on the steep slope, noise, street lighting and access for emergency vehicles on the narrow driveways were raised on Saturday's. Many residents suggested the plan was an "ambit claim" - where developers are known to lodge an initial extravagant request with the view to getting a less intensive development eventually approved. Cr Ann Martin - who attended along with Deputy Mayor Tania Brown and Cr John Dorahy - agreed, saying she would be surprised to see the plan go ahead in its current form. "I think this is am ambit claim and their real intention is to get half that," she said, noting councillors would have no role at all in the approval of the DA. With a capital investment value of $30.3 million, the plan will be reviewed initially by council planing officers, but any decisions will be made by the NSW Government's Southern Regional Planning Panel. Read more: Change laws to bar intense development from sensitive areas, residents say Residents said they would begin writing to NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes, as well as planning officials, and had lodged submissions to stop The Cosgrove from going ahead. Long-time suburb advocate Felix Bronneberg said he was "gobsmacked" to see the development being proposed while the council was considering a plan to address the chronic parking and traffic issues in the suburb. "It's just crazy that we are facing something which will greatly exacerbate these issues," he said. "The [Keiraville - Gwynneville traffic study] shows that at Cosgrove Street there is already 100 per cent saturation for parking every day." Resident Gaye Burrows said she was concerned about bright lighting up the proposed driveway, which would rise up a steep hill and "tower over" the suburb. She also raised concerns about the smell of the garbage collection point for the proposed 47 homes, which would be located at the bottom of the hill so it can be accessed by removal trucks, as well as the possibility of land slippage during heavy rains, and the effects of a long-construction period. "The site is so steep you can barely walk up it," she said. "[Former residents] said the site used to be called slippery Jack's. Kids used to take bits of cardboard up there and slide down the hill when it rained. It was sliding mud, you wouldn't build on it." Despite the widespread concern about the development, documents lodged for the proponent - Edward Cheung of Chinese development group offshoot, Surewin Parkview - say "there are no unreasonable impacts". "There are no unreasonable impacts that will result from the proposed multi-dwelling development on land zoned R2 and currently cleared and vacant, therefore, the benefits of providing high-quality additional housing supply that can accommodate different households outweigh any disadvantage and as such the proposed development will have an overall public benefit," the documents says. Likewise, when unveiling their plans the developers said they had "considered "the details that most impact others, like visuals, traffic and parking". "The architecture and landscaping are integrated through such elements as green roof tops while the building materials have been chosen to blend with the surroundings.," consultant Helen Deegan said of the proposal. "We've taken into account the topography and geology of the site as well as factors such as stormwater, heritage and biodiversity."

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