A development application has been lodged with Ku-ring-gai Council for another stage of development of the SAN hospital site, this time on the opposite side of Fox Valley Road to the hospital. It covers 136 to 144 and 148 Fox Valley Road where there are currently some old cottages and a services building. Behind the site there is a large area of high quality Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest that is part of the Greenweb Program.
The proposal is to build two buildings containing 84 residential units. The associated landscaping will include a swimming pool at the current site of the services building.
A small area of 0.062 ha of Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest (PCT 3262), mostly canopy trees, will not be removed from the community. There is also some Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest in a ‘poor condition’ as a small patch on the southern boundary that includes some native groundcover that will be retained.
As most of the development will affect existing cleared areas the impact on biodiversity will be small. The asset protection zone will be provided by the swimming pool area.
The main concern will be, once again, traffic that is already about to be increased by the new apartments behind the school opposite this new development.
There is a large area of forest comprising high quality Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest and Sandstone Gully Forest down the hill below the site. The chief concerns for this forest are stormwater and pollutant seepage. This forest is already riddled with walking and bike tracks.