A contentious residential subdivision in the Lake Macquarie suburb of Teralba is back before council, with the developer seeking to increase the number of lots and reintroduce a previously scrapped sewerage pumping station.
Revised Plans for Victoria Street Site
The development at 45 Victoria Street, Teralba, which received approval for 19 lots in 2023, has been relodged with Lake Macquarie City Council. The new application from Edgeworth Developments proposes to subdivide the 3.05-hectare property into 24 residential lots and one community lot.
The lot sizes would range from 375 square metres to 1701 square metres. The existing home on the site would be retained on a significantly larger, 4185-square-metre lot. The community lot is slated to feature a basketball half court and a barbecue seating area for future residents.
History of Controversy and Objections
The original Development Application (DA) was lodged in 2021 by then-councillor Luke Cubis of the Lake Mac Independents. Mr Cubis, who later resigned from council in 2023, defended his involvement at the time, stating he was not a developer as land development was not his main business.
The 2023 approval was granted despite receiving 26 community submissions, all objecting to the plans. Key concerns raised included vegetation removal, increased traffic, potential flooding impacts, bushfire risks, and sewerage issues. Notably, four submissions specifically opposed a proposed sewer pumping station over noise and odour fears, leading to its removal from the final approved plans in favour of a gravity sewer system.
Pumping Station Returns in New Proposal
In a significant reversal, the new DA now seeks to restore the sewer pumping station. Documentation prepared for the developer states that connecting to a gravity sewer main at Railway Street was deemed unviable.
The Statement of Environmental Effects argues that the gravity option would require a five-metre-deep excavation along over 500 metres of Victoria Street, rendering the project financially unworkable and causing major disruption to existing residents. The new proposal, it claims, will allow the site to be developed "with little impact on the adjoining residents."
The community now awaits the council's assessment of the revised plans, which promise more housing lots but revive a previously rejected infrastructure element that was a flashpoint for local opposition.
