Penrith City Council has moved to forward a planning proposal to the State Government to increase the height of buildings at the Penrith Homemaker Centre.
A report was brought to Penrith Council at Monday’s Ordinary Meeting seeking endorsement from Councillors to submit a planning proposal to the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure for a gateway determination.
A gateway determination is a checkpoint in the planning proposal process, which is usually issued by the NSW Minister for Planning, Paul Scully, that determines if a proposal should proceed to the next stage, often public exhibition.
The centre currently has a height of 12 metres and Penrith Council is seeking to increase the height of part of the centre for a second-storey addition.
“It is proposed to amend the Penrith LEP 2010 Height of Building (HOB) control over part of the site to enable the extension of the existing Homemaker Centre to provide a second level of retail offering at the south-western boundary of the site,” the Council report said.
“The Planning Proposal initially proposed to increase the building height control from 12 metres to 15 metres.
“However, in response to advice received from the [Local Planning] Panel, the Planning Proposal was amended to increase the height from 12 metres to part 15 metres and part 19m to facilitate the extension.”
If approved, the only adverse impact the proposal is expected to have is the loss of a number of parking spaces.
“The proposal will result in the loss of approximately 20 parking spaces to provide for appropriate service vehicle access infrastructure for the new floorspace,” the Council report said.
“While a small number of parking spaces will be removed, the site will retain an excess of the total parking required…”
Penrith Council unanimously voted to forward the planning proposal to the Minister for Planning with the request to issue a gateway determination, as well as a request to issue Council with delegation to plan making authority.
If the Minister for Planning issues Penrith City Council with a gateway determination, the proposal will then go on public exhibition.
Emily Chate
Emily Chate joined The Western Weekender in 2024, and covers local news - primarily courts and politics. A graduate of the University of Wollongong, Emily has contributed to The Daily Telegraph and worked as a freelance journalist.