At the 27th April Knox City Council meeting Cr Gill, when moving an amendment to approve the McDonald’s Restaurant, stated that residents (of Knoxfield) were afraid of change. I need to correct Cr Gill, as Knoxfield residents appreciate that change and development must take place to house the population explosion we are experiencing, but this development must be in character with our suburb and be in pace with the infrastructure of roads and services. Not over-development as we are witnessing in Kathryn Road wherein a distance of 250 metres four houses will be replaced by thirty-five residences. This development must respect the leafy green bushland type character of the area and the wildlife that visits our properties. If we wanted over-development Cr Gill we would be living in inner suburbs like Richmond.
Our Garden for Wildlife is frequently visited by pardelotes, eastern spinebills, crimson rosellas, rainbow lorikeets to name a few and we have nightly visits from possums, tawny frogmouths, fruit bats and occasionally the powerful owl. We wish to retain this environment and preserve our trees.
Knoxfield residents vigorously opposed the McDonald’s Restaurant mainly because it was an inappropriate development in a Residential 3 Zone, that would have created dangerous traffic conditions for Kathryn Road and Knox Place, safety issues for pedestrians, damage the economy of the Knoxfield Shopping Centre and have a major environmental impact on immediate neighbors.
The first argument that developers have stated in various forums is that residents are afraid of change, it is a shame that some councilors that have the responsibility to independently assess developments use the terminology of developers. How independent are they?
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