Long-standing plans to develop an estate between existing residential areas of Hillsborough and Garden Suburb have been approved by a regional planning panel.
The state government's land and property development arm, Landcom, won approval for a $5.1 million project which includes a 66-lot residential subdivision on the southern side of Myall Road, adjacent Lance Yorke and Margaret West Fields.
It also includes two adjoining super lots designated for single or medium-density housing and another super lot on the north side of Myall Road for small-lot housing.
The 37-hectare development site was initially acquired by NSW Land and Housing Corporation as part of statewide program to develop surplus Crown Land.
The Crown Land Homesite Program is now managed through Landcom.
A development application for the estate was first lodged in 2013, but the plans required multiple modifications. Lake Macquarie council had recommended the most recent plans for approval and the panel agreed that a number of conditions of consent would address concerns about the loss of bushland, traffic impacts and land contamination.
About 27 hectares of the bushland site will be retained for conservation. A roundabout will be installed at the Myall Road and Gymea Drive intersection to enable access to the estate.
Asked if the land was initially earmarked for social housing given the NSW Land and Housing Corporation's involvement, a Landcom spokesman said there had been "no plans to provide social housing" at the site.
"Landcom's mission is to create more affordable and sustainable communities," he said. "Landcom will discuss opportunities to provide affordable housing for key workers such as health, childcare, and retail workers on site with Crown Lands.
Landcom will pay the council about $1.1 million in developer contributions that will go towards community infrastructure projects listed in the Glendale Development Contributions Plan.
Contributions plans exist for multiple "catchments areas" around the city and identify works to be funded with developer contributions over a period of time.
The Glendale catchment includes the Garden Suburb Recreation Area, managed by Garden Suburb Football Club on behalf of council.
The club has lamented the fact that what is likely to be the last parcel of land to be developed for residential purposes in the local area will result in no benefit to the adjacent sports fields. It has been pushing for facility upgrades to help cope with a surge in player numbers, particularly women.
"I had communications with the developer and council from 2014 onwards chasing a voluntary planning agreement, to get the developer - in lieu of [contributions] - to do some facility upgrades," club president Lenny Allen said. "The developer came back and said that was what they wanted to do."
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Landcom confirmed it proposed a VPA when it lodged a DA in 2013 but after 18 months of negotiations it was rejected by council. However, a council spokeswoman said the VPA "did not include an offer to upgrade the soccer fields". "It included roadworks, land required for roads, and biodiversity and conservation land considerations," she said.
The spokeswoman said the Glendale contributions plan lists "70 recreational facility upgrades, including improvements to swim centres and sports fields, and new playgrounds and shared pathways" across the catchment area, which is set for a population increase of 13,600 people by 2030.
Mr Allen acknowledged the club's huge growth in player numbers had mainly occurred after the Glendale plan was drafted and adopted in 2015, but rued the inflexibility of how collected contributions are spent.
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