A further 300 apartments have been proposed for Thornton as property developers look to carve out some of the estate’s last remaining land.
Urban Apartments Pty Ltd has lodged development applications (DAs) with Penrith City Council, seeking construction approval for two neighbouring high rises at 2 and 26 Lord Sheffield Circuit in Thornton.
The DAs propose an eight-storey residential block and 10-storey mixed use building respectively, offering a total of 314 units, 353 car spaces and room for one retail tenancy.
The submissions have angered Thornton resident Monique Lacaze, who bought into the estate on the understanding it would only accommodate 1000 dwellings and high rises would be capped at six storeys.
“The original plans were for 900 to 1000 dwellings across the whole of the estate, so it has significantly exceeded that already,” she said.
If approved, Ms Lacaze holds concerns the buildings will dwarf her townhouse on Fernandez Lane, cause privacy and potential parking issues as well as overshadowing of the streetscape.
Located adjacent to Penrith Train Station, the area has undergone a dramatic transformation since UrbanGrowth NSW acquired the land from the Commonwealth Department of Defence in 2012 and completed the re-zoning and concept plan.
Ms Lacaze, a school teacher, said the North Penrith estate is crying out for more infrastructure and services and wondered how surrounding schools were coping with the influx.
Concept plans for the estate provides for predominantly low density housing towards the northern, central, eastern and western portion of the site and higher mixed densities to the southern portion of the estate, predominantly along Lord Sheffield Circuit.
According to documents tendered as part of the DAs, the estate is reaching its final development stage, with the subject sites constituting some of the last remaining undeveloped land parcels.
If successful, Urban Apartments is expected to fork out more than $66 million to fund the two projects.
Alena Higgins is the Weekender’s Senior News Reporter, primarily covering courts and Council issues.
