A development application has been lodged by SNL Building with Newcastle City Council for six multi-storey buildings to accommodate seniors housing and a childcare centre on the 28,000sqm former Brickworks site, at Wallsend, 115km from Sydney.
It is the second time SNL Building, based in Newcastle, has attempted to develop the site.
The developer won approval in 2016 for 13 residential buildings up to five storeys high on the site. Then SNL Building lodged revised plans in 2019 for a seniors’ village, tennis court, bowling green and swimming pool on the land but withdrew the application in late 2020 after the Council objected to elements of the design.
SNL Building has now revived the 2019 plans, saying it has addressed the Council's concerns over the proposal's height, scale, density and impact on the adjoining park.
The development application says the seniors complex will be 19.58 metres at its tallest point, almost double the 10-metre height limit for the site.
The proposed development is in assessment stage, with additional information requested, and the Hunter and Central Coast Joint Regional Planning Panel will be the approving authority given the cost.
The SOURCE: 237 apartments is a big development for a new entrant in the retirement village sector, but across five buildings, allowing a staged development.
