Town Planning Report

         Australian Productivity Commission ‘Housing Decisions of Older Australians’ 2015 report noted
         that poorly prepared state and local government policies resulted in difficulties in obtaining
         development approvals for age-specific housing were one of the barriers facing older people
         ‘ageing in place’. The proposed development would stand to provide a direct response by
         providing housing options for older people to remain in their community.

     (c) Assist in maintaining viability of township services – The retention of this segment of the
         population within Cooroy assists in ensuring the ongoing viability of services and facilities in
         Cooroy (such as local shops, community uses and medical services). Ensuring a critical
         population mass within the Cooroy township means that there is less risk of key community,
         retail and medical services being re-located to larger centres.

     (d) Employment generation – The proposed development stands to provide economic stimulus for
         the Cooroy township by stimulating employment during construction, providing employment
         opportunities during the ongoing operation of the facility (such as on site management, grounds
         keeping and cleaning).

    Planning Grounds

83. The subject land is suited to development for a retirement community due to its favourable
    topography, proximity to services and facilities within the Cooroy township, ability to connect to the
    full range of urban infrastructure and the relative lack of environmental constraints affecting the
    land.

84. The proposed GemLife community is compatible with the land use context of the surrounding area
    which includes a range of residential and community uses (including the Cooroy Village retirement
    community proximate to the land).

85. The proposed development land forms part of an ‘island’ of properties that are bounded by the
    railway line to the east, Myall Street to the north and west and Nandroya Road to the south. These
    bounding features result in an isolated node of properties (including the golf course) that are unlikely
    to be used for rural or agricultural purposes due to their fragmented nature and the potential for
    land use conflicts between urban development to the north and west. The railway represents a
    logical defining boundary for the containment of urban development and is presumably why the
    State have adopted this for their urban footprint boundary. Therefore, from a first principles town
    planning perspective, the subject land lends itself to development for urban purposes.

86. The proposed up-zoning of the land to rural residential under the draft planning scheme points is
    evidence that the current zoning of this land use node is outdated, however development of this
    land for rural residential purposes would result in a large number of onsite effluent disposal systems
    being established in a water resource catchment area (which we consider to be a sub optimal
    outcome). Therefore, urban development such as the GemLife community proposed would deliver
    improved water quality outcomes as it would be connected to reticulated water and sewer and
    represent an improved water quality outcome when compared to what otherwise would be
    achieved.

Material Change of Use and Reconfiguration of a Lot                                          Pg 43 of 44