As high rise living goes this one's a tiddler, but Lithgow's first venture into the air above suburbia is stirring a hostile confrontation between developers and residents.
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Reaching for the sky, well sort of, in western Lithgow is a proposal for a development six levels above its surroundings and another one below on a block that extends from Martini Parade through to Rifle Parade and Main Street Lane.
The plan submitted to Council is for an underground car park for 59 vehicles, one level of commercial premises then five residential levels containing 39 apartments of up to three bedroom configuration.
To keep this in perspective Lithgow's tallest residential blocks at present are Lynton Court, near the Theatre Royal, and Jackson Place in western Main Street, both of which are three levels.
The previous owner of the land says he would never have sold it had he known of this outcome.
A neighborhood emergency meeting at the weekend drew up battle lines to oppose the grand plan citing wide ranging issues including property devaluation, traffic issues, over shadowing, existing sewer surcharge problems and a big one - loss of privacy.
Three Councillors were present at the meeting and importantly declared on this issue it would be the elected Councillors making the decision and not Council officers.
At the present time the public gallery at Council meetings is closed due to COVID but submissions closing October 2 can be made online or by snail mail.
...but further up town
Still on major development projects and more welcome to everyone is the fact that work is quite clearly under way at last on the resurrection of the old Mort Street TAFE college. Concerns had been expressed that the ambitious project may have fallen through like two before it but in recent days the site has been a hive of activity, including asbestos removal.
No magic pudding
YOU would have to be decidedly un-Australian to not demand effective protection for our dwindling koala population, particularly after the devastation of our horror Summer.
Blinky Bill is under threat as never before - if you discount colonial fur trappers - and really in need of some sort of Magic Pudding served up by government. But the kerfuffle that left NSW Nationals egg faced last week is a case of trying to catch the horse long after the stable was left open. Huge swathes of fauna habitat and increasingly scarce food bowl land have disappeared under concrete or open cut mines, all with the mindless encouragement of successive governments.
Games continue to be played but the current score is Koalas 1 - Nats 0.
Win some, lose some more
IT'S really a no win situation when it comes to bushfires. The horror of our scorched earth Summer was due in large part to the never ending drought that had created the mother of all tinderbox situations.
Now we're warned that recent good rain is making the grass grow and creating another hazard for 2020/21.
When everything's under concrete the problem solved.
