Boarding house fears, council to rule yes or no

COUNCIL has met with residents concerned over a proposed boarding house set to be built in Macleay Street.

The proposal for an 18-bed boarding house, with a single storey residence at the front, and a driveway down the side of the property leading to a double-storey residence at the rear, has divided the community.

Local resident Emma Webster told Dubbo Photo News she had several concerns.

“Macleay Street is in a very old part of Dubbo, known for its heritage-listed properties,” she said.

“While the house to be demolished is not heritage-listed, it’s still part of the streetscape and the jacaranda tree out the front will be taken out as well.

“There’s no room left on the block for any green space, and we feel there’s really too many rooms in the development.”

Ms Webster added it would be better for boarding house residents to have fewer rooms and more communal space.

“There’s no privacy for the residents, the rooms are going to be very small, and it can lead to people congregating on the street,” she said.

Ms Webster and several other residents raised their objections with councillors at the site of the proposed boarding house last week.

“We all had a walk around and were standing under the jacaranda tree talking – the tree that of course won’t be there if the development goes ahead,” she said.

“I love the Dubbo community and I think we can do better for people – we need to ask how we can nurture and encourage people to have a wonderful life in a space that is safe and not overcrowded.

“I’d like to see lower density than the current proposal and to see the tree remain and more green space.”

Mayor Mathew Dickerson told Dubbo Photo News a decision on the boarding house would be made at this week’s council meeting.

“The process on the boarding house development application has been good,” he said.

“We have a new group of councillors here who said, “This is our first DA, we want to take our time, we want to talk with the developer, and with the people who are objecting, and have the time to consider it all”.

“It’s been a good process and I hope everyone feels they’ve been able to have their say.”

He added that council would likely make a “yes or no” decision on the boarding house, rather than imposing conditions such as fewer rooms.

“The DA is from a legally complying developer – we could of course go back to them and say could you make it 12 or 14 rooms, and then the developer would have to go back and consider if that was financially viable for them,” Cr Dickerson said.

“So, while we could do that, I feel it’s more likely to be a ‘yes or a no’ from council.”

Cr Dickerson said in the future, Dubbo would need to consider more high-density housing options.

“We haven’t seen a lot of unit developments so far in Dubbo, but I think more of that will come, or other types of higher density living housing like townhouses, or duplexes,” he said.

“But that of course won’t be dictated by council, those proposals will come from developers.”