“Development will provide an additional burden on an already at-capacity, ageing sewer system,” she said. An artist's impression of a seniors housing development on the site of the former Oatley Bowling Club. Credit:Georges River Council The planning proposal, which is awaiting “gateway" determination by the Planning Department, seeks to reclassify and rezone the former Oatley Bowling Club for seniors housing and a community facility. The rezoning of part of the site from public recreation to SP2 Infrastructure would permit a maximum building height of 18.5 metres – double the nine-metre limit that applies to neighbouring properties. The proposal includes the development of “seniors housing/aged-care facility” of up to 80 beds in buildings of three- to five-storeys with provision for ambulance parking and a public car park of 54 spaces.

A council spokesman said the rest of the site would remain as open space, with barbecues, community gardens and walking and bicycle tracks. “If the site was eventually rezoned, any future development proposal would need to have regard to these planning controls and the need to decontaminate the site,” he said. The spokesman also said environmental assessments had found the site could accommodate the rezoning. The former bowling club is adjacent to the Myles Dunphy Bushland Reserve, which borders the Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra line and is close to Oatley railway station. The reserve is named after Dunphy, a conservationist who with his son Milo campaigned to preserve wilderness areas in NSW.

“To alienate the land by using it for seniors housing and possibly residential use would be a travesty of the vision that he had for the area,” Ms Amerasinghe said. She said she was concerned that public land would be carved up for commercial use. “We as a community would like the former bowling club site to remain zoned open space, to be used for passive recreational activities,” she said. She pointed to the Greater Sydney Commission’s draft plan for the area, which stressed the importance of preserving and improving open space to cater for the increasing population. The council spokesman said the site was appropriate for seniors housing because of its proximity to public transport and shops.

“The site was identified by the former Hurstville City Council as the most suitable place within the local area for the provision of seniors housing/aged care,” he said. He also said there had been extensive community consultation over the plans for the bowling club site. But Peter Mahoney, a resident who opposes the plans, said: “The site was merely removed from the reserve's plan of management by the discredited former Hurstville council, which also only ever discussed the matter in secret.” The former bowling club site has been plagued with controversy since the former Hurstville council, which was merged into the new Georges River Council in 2016, began investigating its future more than 10 years ago. Loading

The council states on its website that there is growing demand for housing for the elderly, but proposals to build seniors housing and aged-care facilities have met opposition from residents across Sydney. Mr Mahoney said part of the bowling club site is in a bushfire risk zone, rendering it unsuitable for housing elderly people. He also questioned whether any future development would be limited to five storeys. “There is no guarantee that the block will accommodate either seniors or aged care,” he added. The federal member for Banks, Assistant Minister for Finance David Coleman, echoed the concerns of residents in an October 2016 newsletter: “It is clear that the community is concerned about the area being negatively affected by the redevelopment of the old Oatley Bowling Club site.”