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Response to proposed redevelopment Springwood

As a member of two of the stake holder organizations involved with the Springwood Civic Centre I have grave concerns regarding councils approach to funding any proposed redevelopment of the Springwood Civic Centre site, Council office space and the Library.

If one looks at the redevelopment of the council owned land in Katoomba for the so called "Cultural Centre" one would question what council sees as cultural activities.
It is beyond belief that council would develop a cultural centre that does not have a performance space to cater for the needs of community groups in the upper mountains.

As it stands now and for the foreseeable the Springwood Civic Centre has the only "large" performance space that is accessible all the year around to community groups for music, drama and theatre type productions in the City of Blue Mountains.

From a planning point of view the Northern and Southern car parks are a dead issue the present retailers are complaining about the lack of trade in Springwood.
But one must ask if they have considered what will happen to their trade during the construction phase if the northern or southern car parks are redeveloped.
The town planners only have to look at the council files to see what happened when the main streetscape and Macquarie road in Springwood was upgraded it was an utter disaster for the retailers the upgrade sent some retailers broke.

On the northern side of Macquarie road council has failed to consider or put an operational site up as an option in what appears to be a missed opportunity to develop a large shopping centre and integrate existing shops and malls into this development very much like what has been done in other centres. E.g. Parramatta and Penrith shopping centres.

There is a large parcel of council owned operational land which includes Greenway lane that runs from the Telstra owned land to the edge of Buckland Park which would lend its self to double story development with the Greenway laneway and existing car parking facilities integrated into the development (See Photograph below and attached photographs).

Click to enlarge

Greenway Lane looking back to Telstra Building

1. A development on this site would enhance the viability of the existing Macquarie Road front shops and the shops in the two malls that have access to the council owned car park.
2. It would allow for a double story development that would not impinge on the ascetics of Macquarie road.
3. A development on this site would be less disruptive to the retailers.
4. It would cleanup what is an unsightly view from the Great Western Highway.

There is a view within governments state and council that if there is a parcel of community land that appears to be under utilized then the consent authority has the right to sell it no matter what for commercial development.
I am total opposed to council selling or leasing the land identified in the reports as the Civic Centre Site.
There is little enough open space in the Springwood town centre and what there is of it needs to be preserved for future generations.

Over the years the council has relinquished areas of the Buckland Park to the Springwood Bowling Club and a developer to allow a development by relocating the Springwood Red Cross Hall further into the park to facilitate a commercial development adjacent to the park.

Buckland Park has been reduced in size by half since Sir Thomas Buckland gave the land to the people of Springwood and any suggestion that the Baby Health Centre should be relocated should not even be considered by council planers.

Click to enlarge Buckland is the only major park in the Springwood commercial area. The Bowling Club has encroached on the land left as a park to the people of Springwood.

Click to enlarge Red Cross Hall should be the only building permitted within the boundary of Buckland Park.

There are a lot of ill informed critics and pressure groups pushing their own agenda about how to redress the state of the Springwood Civic Centre.

Council over the years has failed to maintain the Civic Centre to a satisfactory standard or develop any long term plans to improve and enhance the facility.

To my knowledge no consultant has been engaged to carry out a detailed study and examine how the facility can be improved or enlarged and I would have thought this should be one of the prerequisites prior to considering any redevelopment plans and it should be on the table with these other proposals.

Councils own population figures lend credence to the fact that the Springwood Civic Centre will be a multi purpose facility for now and into the foreseeable future.

1. Springwood and the lower mountains do not have the population nor is it likely to have to sustain a centre like the Joan Sutherland facilities in Penrith which some individuals have put forward in the community information sessions.
2. Any new facility council or its agents build will have to increase charges or subsidies the centre from councils low rate base.
3. The high usage of this facility by community organisations demand that council looks at how the existing facility can be enhanced without disrupting the existing users.
4. With some innovative design the front hall over the entrance to the civic centre could be changed into a mezzanine level to accommodate larger audience in the main hall for music and theatrical production.
5. Again the existing toilets, kitchen and supper come dining hall could be extended towards the Oriental Hotel site and a proper loading dock built. This would allow extra hail space on two levesl for community functions and better loading and unloading facilities.
6. The Springwood Neighbourhood Centre building is a prime example where the community space could be doubled.
   It is my understanding that when the building was built as council office space the council in its wisdom put in foundations and supports so that an additional story could be added at a later date.
7. This council talks about sustainability and the impact on the environment yet council is considering demolishing a perfectly good structure and replacing it with something else when for two to three million dollars the building and its facilities could be refurbished to meet the present and future need of the lower mountains communities.
8. Funding to achieve a refurbishment programme needs further investigation and detailed planning and I would urge council to rethink a co development of the Civic Centre site. Look outside the box there are better solutions than tearing the existing building down.

Click to enlarge Upper meeting room could be converted to a mezzanine area for concerts and live performances.

Click to enlarge Existing neighbourhood centre building could have an extra level built over the top of the existing structure.

Click to enlarge Civic Centre could be extended with two levels to provide more accommodation for community use to the boundary of the Council land.
Click to enlarge Civic Centre roadway is designed for the aged pedestrian and in need of resurfacing with a smooth hotmix surface.	Click to enlarge Beautification is required around the library. Council should install water tanks so the gardens can be maintained.

Response to Proposed Redevelopment Springwood

During the council workshops there was a lot of talk about the decline of the Springwood shopping centre.

There are issues which need addressing as far as the Springwood shopping Centre is concerned.

1. The excessive high rental charges by the landlords.
2. A lack of ownership by landlords of Springwood commercial centre (It is only a source of revenue to them).
3. Shop keepers and the Chamber of commerce failure to promote Springwood as a commercial centre and a nice place to visit and take ownership.
4. The beautification of the townscape and visible parking signs need to be addressed.
5. Council has an obligation to ensure the roads, footpaths and general ascetics are maintained to a high standard (This is something I have raised in previous correspondence with council).
6. There has been no attempt by council to install water tanks around the library so that gardens could be established and maintained to beautify the area. Then again Springwood is not Katoomba or Leura and has a low priority for tourism related beautification.
7. Inadequate signage to highlight Springwood as tourist centre to stop off along on the Great Western Highway.
8. The historical aspect of Springwood has not been addressed by council nor is there a local Springwood tourist office or visible tourist information outlet to promote Springwood and the surrounding districts this needs to be addressed.
9. Failure of the council and state government to upgrade walking track and promote the short wonderful walks close to the township. (All that is ever promoted is the upper mountains and all the finding for walking track is allocated to the upper mountains).

There has been a lot of emphases by council planners and elected representatives on building a large supermarket and shopping complex along with high density accommodation on the Civic Centre site to maximize returns on investment by some "Unnamed Developer".

On the point of high density accommodation one of the poorest decisions made by past councils was to allow blocks of flats to be built in the middle of the shopping centre in Macquarie road and at the rear of the ANZ bank.
These residential developments have impinged on future commercial development and amount to poor planning by past councils.
I see the same situation arising if council pursues this line of thinking with Civic Centre site.

The alternative high density development area is Raymond road it is one road in which the zoning could be changed in the future when demand deems it necessary for additional high density housing.

First Raymond road lends its self to redevelopment with high density housing without impinging on the existing council land and commercial land held by the private sector.

Secondly at the present time there is a separation between the present residential areas and any future development in Raymond Road and the Civic Centre for noise and parking which is something that seems to have escaped the planner's attention and does not seem to have taken into consideration in the document presented to the public.

In closing first I would urge council to examine the feasibility of developing the section of land outlined in this submission it would be a far better out come for all concerned if the existing retail outlets and arcades could be integrated into such a development.
Secondly I would urge council to engage a consultant to examine the feasibility of upgrading the existing facilities in the Springwood Civic Centre and Neighbourhood Centre.

Richard Jackson-Hope

Click photo to enlarge