Central Maitland will be transformed into a hub of city living with 1300 affordable homes and major road upgrades kickstarted with a $11.3 million federal government grant.
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Athel D’Ombrain Drive through to Abbott Street will become a link road between Church Street and High Street, and a new roundabout will be built to improve access to Maitland railway station along with more parking spaces in the car park.
The significant infrastructure spend will be completed by 2015 and provide road access to council and privately owned land that is zoned residential, which will be developed for medium density units and townhouses for low-income earners to buy.
To make the homes more affordable Maitland City Council will give every buyer the section 94 contributions developers pay to the council, and if the home was built on council land, the buyer will receive a rebate according to the land value.
The grant is the biggest government spend in central Maitland for more than 30 years and complements the council’s Central Maitland Structure Plan, which aims to create a housing market in the CBD for the first time since before the 1955 flood.
“We are creating a market here to bring people into the city and this money will provide a unique opportunity to access this land because there are lots of narrow streets in the bottom end of town,” council general manager David Evans said.
The council’s housing projections estimate the homes will bring 3500 to 4000 people to central Maitland.
Mayor of Maitland, Cr Peter Blackmore, said this would make a large dent in the city’s housing crisis and help the revitalisation of the CBD.
“It will put life back into central Maitland; the people who live in these homes will have direct access to the railway as well as shops and services in the CBD,” he said.
“Full compliments go to council staff and [Hunter MP]Joel Fitzgibbon for securing this money for Maitland.”
Mr Fitzgibbon said the Maitland played a critical role in the expansion of the region’s economy and the city’s growth had to be supported.
“This project brings three great things for Maitland - making the regional economy more sustainable, providing affordable housing, and creating housing near the city centre, which will help revitalise the mall and the city centre,” he said.
“A huge thanks goes to Maitland City Council for the quality of their submission for this grant.
It is wonderful for Maitland and we will be getting the infrastructure issues right before we start building the houses.”
The money will be rolled out over three years.
