Land being auctioned in Hazelbrook this month by Sydney Water is at serious risk of flooding, according to the Member for Blue Mountains Trish Doyle, and residents of the street.
Ms Doyle has been given photos from residents of Hazel Avenue showing heavy flooding in 2008, which made some nearby homes “uninhabitable for six months”.
The blocks near Hazelbrook Creek are at 22 Hazel Avenue, 30-32 Hazel Avenue and 34-36 Hazel Avenue in Hazelbrook and go up for auction this weekend - on March 24. Most of the land is zoned E4 – for environmental Living – land with special environmental or scenic values where residential development can be accommodated. The land backs onto Hazelbrook Creek.
Ms Doyle wrote to the Minister for Water Niall Blair about environmental concerns of the sites, particularly 34-36 Hazel Avenue, in a bid to stop the auction. When contacted by the Gazette that minister’s spokeswoman said the issue was the responsibility of Resources Minister Don Harwin. He has been asked for a comment.
About 85 per cent of the block on 34-36 Hazel Avenue is marked “protected area – riparian land” and was “significantly constrained in what can be built” … Hazelbrook Creek, which eventually feeds into the Grose River, running directly through the block,” Ms Doyle wrote in an urgent letter to the Minister on March 12.
“I’ve asked the minister to halt the sale process so this matter can be investigated and the residents can be informed.
“There are just some parcels that shouldn’t be built on and this is one of them,” she said, while visiting residents of the street at the site last Friday.
Local councillors and the Blue Mountains Conservation Society have also expressed concern about the land being “flood prone”.
Madi Maclean, Blue Mountains Conservation Society president, told councillors the possible presence of Red Crowned Toadlets, a threatened species, on the lots “is a real concern but the society understands it will only be considered at the development application stage as the presence of threatened species is not a E2 zoning consideration”.
Siobhan O’Beirne, who lives in the street, said during a big flood in 2008 homes at 29, 31 and 33 were badly damaged.
“These homes were unlivable for up to six months after the flood. Those homes are situated directly opposite 34-36 Hazel Avenue.”
The Conservation Society supports efforts to review the zoning of lots 22-36, as well as approaching Sydney Water to have the auction postponed.