The Gundaroo community is calling on Canberrans who regularly visit their historic shops, restaurants and quiet country surroundings to write letters of support for maintaining the village's character.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The NSW government and Yass Valley Council are considering two development proposals to rezone farmland on Gundaroo's north and south sides for residential lots. If approved the subdivisions would double the village's 130 dwellings to 260 dwellings. Concerns have been raised about whether enough drinking water and non-potable water (to dispose of effluent) will be available.
Rezoning has been sidelined while more work is done on groundwater studies, after submissions raised concerns about groundwater contamination. Meanwhile, Gundaroo Community Association wants a masterplan before rezoning takes place, to maintain the village's character and heritage.
The council's draft for a masterplan includes setting out the history of the village, its existing character and desired future character, and a description of the aspirations for the village. This would be undertaken as a workshop exercise with the community.
A plan would be drawn up to spatially represent the village's future character, and action and priorities would be established, subject to consultation with the community.
Development standards would include lot sizes, building heights, setbacks, design features, parking, street tree planting, road widths, standards and infrastructure.
Gundaroo Community Association president Anne Barwick said developers were pushing for rezoning first, but she believes having a masterplan in place first is the best way forward.
"I just wish we could get some Canberra people making submissions to council, saying look, we really value Gundaroo," Ms Barwick said.
"We get a lot of people coming out here of a weekend because it is the way it is. If we have suburbs at either end, why would people bother coming out of a weekend? They may as well stay in Canberra," Ms Barwick said.
In one of NSW's fastest growing local government areas, Gundaroo is under development pressure at the same time Yass Council is building a financial case to continue operating alone, rather than merge with neighbouring councils to shore up long-term viability.
A local government review has advised council mergers to achieve long-term viability. In 2013, NSW Treasury Corporation considered Yass Council to be moderately sustainable in the short to medium term, but unable to raise enough income to cover expenses in the longer term.
Yass Council is compiling a Fit for the Future report to support the case for independent governance, rather than merging with neighbouring councils.
Ms Barwick said new subdivisions would not help the council's bottom line, because aside from taking decades to be fully realised, half the additional rates would be spent on providing services. Even if rate income in Gundaroo doubled from $100,000 to $200,000 it would not make a big difference to council's operations, she said.
