[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″ offset=”vc_col-lg-1/5 vc_col-md-1/5 vc_col-xs-1/5″][us_image image=”81825″ size=”thumbnail” align=”left” style=”circle” has_ratio=”1″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/12″ offset=”vc_col-lg-4/5 vc_col-md-4/5 vc_col-xs-4/5″][vc_column_text]By Annette Madjarian[/vc_column_text][us_post_date][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]An $11 million-plus development in Dural has been described as a “sporting facility on steroids” and completely unacceptable by local residents.
Ambitious plans for the Sports & Recreation Facilities Centre at 639 Old Northern Rd Dural outline it will operate 16 hours a day seven days a week.
Hornsby Shire Council has referred the development application by Urban Soccer to its Local Planning Panel after receiving substantial complaints recently.
As part of its plan, Urban Soccer is proposing a two-storey building with an indoor sports field, offices, reception areas, gym with internal and external training areas on the first floor, five external sports fields, a covered area with grand stand style seating, and an external carpark. The estimated cost of the development is $11,321,597.
Local residents are furious and say the development will be of detriment to the area and more importantly, that it does not comply with Council’s Development Control Plan RU2 Rural Landscape Zoning. Dural resident Livio Cicchini started a petition from local residents against the development, calling for Council to reject the proposal.
“This proposal is unacceptable.. it is well beyond what is acceptable in a rural area,” Mr Cicchini said. “It does not meet the objectives of the zoning requirements of RU2 Rural Landscape, and the quality of life of the people that live in the vicinity being a rurally zoned area, will be severely impacted by the proposed development,” he said.
“Should this development be approved, the residents of Old Northern Road will be subject to unacceptable increases in vehicles, people, major safety concerns and excessive levels of noise and lighting ‘for up to 16 hours a day seven days a week’.”
According to Urban Soccer, the “Facility satisfies growing demand and interest in team sport participation, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic years of 2020 and 2021”.
However, residents have serious concerns about traffic implications and safety, saying that part of Old Northern Road was already congested and dangerous.
Mr Cicchini’s petition states that the plan was severely lacking in foresight and did not cater for the consequences of continuous traffic flow in the area.
The development would not “maintain the rural landscape character” and “is a sporting facility on steroids. The infrastructure requirements will be beyond the scope of the proposal”.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
