Developer HB+B Property has been refused permission to build an aged care home on Murray Farm Road in Carlingford, 22km northwest of the Sydney CBD, despite revising its plans after they were initially turned down.
HB+B specialises in industrial, aged care, infrastructure and childcare developments plus project management – they were behind Opal’s $43 million, 155-bed aged care home in Bankstown completed in 2018.
They acquired the site in December 2018 and had proposed building a 132-bed, three-storey aged care home, but backlash from residents saw the plans scaled back to 120 beds over two storeys.
However, the four-person Sydney City Planning Panel unanimously rejected the application, saying it wouldn’t fit with the character of the lower-density area, failed to “maintain visual privacy for neighbours”, and didn’t meet restrictions for “height, density and scale” or safety standards.
City of Parramatta, North Rocks ward councillor Andrew Jefferies, said commuter parking would be a much better fit for the former bus depot site.
“Given both proposals have been comprehensively rejected on local character grounds, the owner should consider selling the land to Transport for NSW as it was clear they are unable to deliver a proposal that justifies the cost of their decision to purchase the site in 2016,”
he said.“This parcel of land has always been the best in the area to deliver upon the NSW Government’s promise to deliver commuter parking near the Oakes Rd M2 stop. It was really a lost opportunity to resolve the area’s chronic lack of commuter parking.”
Will the future aged residents of the area agree when no local beds are available – and who wants to live next to a carpark?
