“Noisy”, “polluted” and “harsh” are some of the words used by a local council to describe housing plans along Sydney’s congested Canterbury Road corridor.
The 510-page report, released this week by the current City of Canterbury Bankstown council, paints a grim picture of a 2010 masterplan implemented by the previous council. Since then, the congested stretch of road has seen a crop of six- to eight-storey apartment buildings grow along its periphery. These buildings were approved as part of the previous council’s “vision” for the area between Punchbowl and Hurlstone Park, which has subsequently undergone rapid densification.
“The vision of the 2010 masterplan is today further from reality than ever before,” reads the Canterbury Road Review, officially adopted by the City of Canterbury Bankstown council on Tuesday night.
“The traffic function of the road has increased with new development adding traffic volume.”
According to the current council, existing policies have resulted in a blight on what is already one of the city’s busiest roads. Within the bulky report, the council expresses their wish to halt the current state of development within the area. Their review is supported by a number of independent assessments from Hills Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects, SGC Economics and Planning and GHD, which provide alternative urban design solutions for Canterbury Road.
Some of the recommended solutions include limiting future apartment blocks between Punchbowl and Hurlstone Park to six storeys, and creating a series of parallel laneways to facilitate pedestrian circulation. Potential changes to traffic movement along Canterbury Road are also suggested to better accommodate higher levels of residential density.
Altogether, the plan contains 15 recommendations covering everything from zoning to street parking layouts to community facilities. With the next election due for September, the review’s implementation will ultimately fall to the new City of Canterbury council.
Canterbury Road isn’t the only inner-west Sydney corridor to have been put under the microscope recently. A separate proposal has been put forth by the state government regarding the nearby Sydenham to Bankstown rail line. In their proposal, the government expresses their support of intense housing development along the corridor, including planning allowances of up to 25 storeys for new apartment towers.
The Canterbury Road review will be made available for public comment later this month.
