Frustrated residents in the Gwynneville/Keiraville area have called on expert advice as they campaign for a detailed masterplan to guide the future development of what will see the creation of a small town close to the university.

As reported in The Illawarra Flame last week, in an at times heated meeting on 10 September, locals expressed their frustration that months after writing submissions to Council the entire process appears to have "fallen into a black hole".

On Monday night, the Keiraville Residents Action Group (KRAG) called on the expertise of an experienced architect/planner with a track record of creating quality new communities, to seek his guidance and insights.

Donald Proctor, who was raised in Dapto before moving to Sydney, has offered his time on a voluntary basis.  He is credited with decades of experience working within state and local government, not-for-profits and housing cooperatives to help guide best-practice housing outcomes for local communities. 

Locals urged to be patient

His briefing was a far cry from the heated scenes witnessed at last week's KRAG meeting, which saw Councillor Andrew Anthony walk out, and the creation of a new "Our Voice Matters" community campaign.

After hearing local concerns over consultation and a "lack of information", Donald urged residents to "be patient".

"I'm not here to be a supporter of anti-development, but I am here to help you influence good development in your area," Donald said.

"Being disciplined is important because this process will take a long time, and this is just the beginning. It's always best to make allies and friends because this is about playing the long game."

Donald was given a summary of last week's meeting, which passed a motion that in part called on Wollongong Council and Homes NSW to create a 'People and Place Plan' for Gwynneville's social housing residents, "placing people at the centre of planning – similar to the Bellambi housing initiative".

Plans from a developer's perspective

Donald told The Illawarra Flame that the plans he has seen are from the property developer perspective – just parcelling up sites. He explained that a best practice urban design plan for the neighbourhood would take into account the slope of the land, the views to the escarpment and the coast, solar access and provision of shade corridors, how best to link with the botanic gardens, how best to partner with the university, creating great open spaces for the little and bigger kids living in apartments. 

He said the best outcome for locals would be "a built form that will contribute to high quality and affordable housing outcomes, where local homeowners, tenants and investors will all benefit".

No idea what's happening

The people living in, or near to the development precinct, say that's exactly what they want. A spokesperson for KRAG, Felix Bronneberg, said Gwynneville locals were being treated like second-class citizens compared to those living in Bellambi, who face similar renewal in their suburb. "We have absolutely no idea what's happening," Felix said.

"Homeowners feel helpless, that they've lost control of their property, and lost control of their lives," said Karen Rispoli, a resident of Keiraville for the past eight years.

"People are accusing us of being NIMBYs, but that's not true. We just want well organised, well-planned housing for the people who live here and their neighbours," Karen said.

Felix said frustration with the process to date has only deepened with Council confirming it had no intention of undertaking a master planning process for the creation of 1,250 new homes where less than 150 currently exist.

A desire to get the project right

"There is deep concern the development will proceed over a period of time in a piecemeal manner through fragmented development applications. It will be DA, by DA, by DA process," Felix told last week's community meeting, "without a single, coherent master plan that includes infrastructure upgrades, community services, recreational areas, meaningful community integration and a commitment to fund the necessary infrastructure."

KRAG secretary Yvonne Toepfer said it was important for all the parties to come together, "and quickly", to get the project right.

"This is a first for Wollongong, and we'd like to see it done properly," Yvonne said. "At the moment we have no idea how long it will take, and even how long until it will start."

She said many locals living in the future development precinct were living their lives on the edge. She said a masterplan exercise should help give them certainty. "Do they have to wait 15 to 20 years to know what's going to happen to them?"

'People need a place to live'

Trevor Collier has called Gwynneville home for 12 years, and he acknowledged something needed to happen to address the housing crisis. "People need a place to live," Trevor said. But he expressed concerns about the "impacts of building more than 600 social housing units in one place. Experience shows they turn into ghettos if you put them all together."

He's also worried about increasing density near the university and the strain on the local roads system which "is already chaotic".

After living for 32 years in Keiraville, Deb and Greg Duff, say they're "totally in the dark about what's happening. We just want to know what's going on."

Traffic congestion in the area is amongst their biggest concerns. "Twelve hundred new homes seem very congested when the area is already a nightmare. When university starts you can't get anywhere," Deb said.

What are we going to lose?

Chris Prior has lived in his Gwynneville home for 58 years. He has many questions that remain unanswered and doesn't know where to go to get those answers. "What are we going to lose?" he asked. "It's ludicrous to have our lovely suburb turned upside down like this... it needs to come down in scale."

"If my mum wants to downsize, what's her home worth? It used to have a value of at least $1 million but now we don't know.  A major part of her future and her security is wrapped up in her house, and she can't do anything with it."

Another home owner, Domenic Saffioti, while accepting there will be an increase in density, isn't confident there will be sufficient new infrastructure to support the arrival of at least 2,000 additional people. "The consultation needs to be much broader; the impact will be felt well beyond the area in question."

'We face serious overcrowding'

Maureen Burt agreed: "It's absolutely going to be madness, what we're facing is serious overcrowding."

Homeowner Carol echoed the concerns of many, while also saying "we support more social and affordable housing. 

"I do feel I'm being kept in the dark. I really need to talk to people. I need to see the visuals. I'm getting really scared that this development is going to go ahead and no one is going to like it."

Elise Craft, from Keiraville, said while working at the Wollongong court house she'd witnessed the problems of high density living first hand.  "When people live too close to each other, on top of each other, it leads to increased crime and violence. It becomes a massive issue and the courts are just backed up with cases. They can't cope."

Democracy in action

Ward Two Greens Cr Kit Docker spoke at the meeting, saying: "This is democracy in action.

"There has been consultation so far, but you're clearly saying there needs to be more consultation.

"We currently have a massive, massive problem with homelessness and it's absolutely critical that density is going to be a part of the solution," Kit said.

"My absolute main concern is that we are going to deliver homes for the homeless."

Cr Docker said he'd endeavour to get "a detailed response" to the concerns raised at the meeting and reassured the meeting that "it's not going to happen overnight, it's going to take decades."

Building relationships

Social housing expert Donald Proctor agreed, telling KRAG members this week that, in the scheme of things, the process has only been underway for a relatively short time. "Twelve months is just a blink of the eye in a big project like this. We have to look at this in the context of a housing crisis. They're trying to work out how best to make this development happen."

Donald suggested building stronger relationships both with Council and Homes NSW, where it was important to establish a single point of contact with someone senior who could respond quickly to community concerns .

"If the conversation continues respectfully and professionally you have the chance of getting somewhere."