Fresh application for retirement village

A fresh development application for a retirement village is being advertised for bushland at the corner of Hillview St and Veron Rd, Woy Woy.

A similar proposal for the land was rejected in the Land and Environment Court in February.

The new proposal for senior living housing and ancillary facilities, to be called Everglades Retirement Gardens, reduces the development footprint by 25 per cent.

The developer Providence Projects also claimed the proposed development was more environmentally friendly, using natural light and ventilation, solar power, unobtrusive irrigation, detailed attention to ground water and run off and the production of a "very thorough and extensive" Species Impact Statement.

It included "a commitment to a significant regeneration plan for the preservation of over one hectare of vegetation".

The retirement village would be located where the poorest vegetation occurred.

Two previous proposals for the site had been refused by Gosford Council, and also by the Land and Environment Court, which found the site should be considered an endangered ecological community.

Providence Projects managing director Mr John Zavolokin said that the court did not say that development was not possible on the site.

He said that following criticism of the previous proposals he had revised the design and proposal significantly.

In a leaflet about the proposed development, he claimed that the development would provide benefits both to the community and bushland.

Benefits to the community would involve aged care support, the creation of job opportunities and the village becoming an "integral part of the community".

The development would enhance bushland regeneration and survival with a managed and privately-funded program to maintain and protect the bush, and the retention of 170 trees, the leaflet stated.

Everglades Retirement Gardens would have a single owner, to ensure the on-going integrity of the bushland.

The development would have environmentally-friendly bushwalks and the opportunity to have someone manage the weed infestation and neglect near neighbouring fences.

It would provide neighbours with a safer alternative than the current "disused, unattended environment" and would create better protection against bushfires.

Mr Zavolokin described the proposal as "a win-win scenario by providing a community oriented and socially responsible development in harmony with the environment".

He said: "A do-nothing approach will continue to subject the site to an unprotected state with the current effects from haphazard tracks, illegal removal of grass trees and other plants, dumping of rubbish including an old car body and weed infestation."

Both the proposals are being advertised from May 17 to June 16.

Lyle Stone, May 25 Press release, May 26 John Zavolokin, Providence Projects