Share with us your thoughts on the future of Blaxland

Blue Mountains City Council is seeking community feedback on new planning options for Blaxland, to encourage revitalisation in the Town Centre and improve public spaces.

The Blaxland masterplan, endorsed in August 2018, captured the community’s vision for the Blaxland Town Centre and as the next step in achieving this vision, Council is developing new planning controls.

What do planning controls allow for now? The current planning controls for the Town Centre allow people to build to 2-3 storeys (or a height of 9m).

What change is proposed? Council is considering change to allow one additional storey in the Town Centre under certain circumstances. This means people could build 3-4 storeys (up to 12m), instead of the current 9m.

Why four storeys? Blaxland needs revitalisation. Feasibility work confirms that the current controls (which allow 2-3 storeys) need some change to make this happen. By allowing one additional storey, the plan is to incentivise positive improvement to the Town Centre, with public benefit.

The following three options consider how and where this one additional storey should be allowed. We need your thoughts on these options for change:

OPTION 1 Four storeys allowed across whole Town Centre

This option would permit a 4 storey building height across the entire Blaxland Town Centre. This would increase the mapped height in the Local Environmental Plan, without requiring development to provide public benefit.

OPTION 2 Four storeys with public benefit

This option would permit increased building height to 4 storeys, only when the development provides a public benefit (open space or community facilities for example). This option would apply to the whole of the Blaxland Town Centre.

OPTION 3 Four storeys (key sites only) with public benefit

This option would permit increased building height to 4 storeys, only when the development provides a public benefit (open space or community facilities for example). This option would only apply to ‘key sites’ within the Blaxland Town Centre. These strategic sites would be identified within the Local Environmental Plan.

Take our online survey until Wednesday 9 December 2020 to provide your feedback on these new planning options, some examples of what the town centre might look like and the public benefit these planning changes could achieve. Go to https://yoursay.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/blaxland

Artist’s impressions: (1) View from Hope Street, towards Station Street; (2) View from Station St mall looking west along the pedestrian laneway.