Developers have lodged a planning proposal with Maitland City Council to put 40 residential lots at the Wallis Street site.

Glebe Heritage Preservation Group has opposed plans to rezone the land from rural to residential to allow the lots to be developed.

In a submission to council, obtained by the Mercury, the group stated rezoning the land would threaten the flora, fauna, culture and heritage of the site.

The submission urged council to preserve Glebe Paddock because it was next to the historic Glebe Burial Ground and provides a visual link from the burial ground and other significant buildings to the East Maitland township.

“For the sake of an additional 40 dwellings, we strongly feel that it is not worth the risk to the environment and heritage of the area,” the submission noted.

The meeting will be held outside 34 Wallis Street, overlooking Glebe Paddock, on Wednesday at 6pm.

Former Maitland councillor and Greens member John Brown will be the guest speaker and all councillors have been invited to attend.

Mr Brown said it would be a disaster to see 40 homes built on Glebe Paddock.

He said he supported the points raised in Glebe Heritage Preservation Group’s submission to council.

“We have exceptional growth in the west at Rutherford and exceptional growth in the east,” he said. “To put 40 new houses there would be ridiculous and would heighten the pressure on infrastructure.

“Maitland has a wonderful history and culture based on its rural roots.

“I guess the greed of developers is what we are worried about.” 

Plans to build a residential development on Glebe Paddock were quashed 20 years ago after council received 21 written submissions and a petition containing 260 signatures against the proposal.

Three-hundred-and-fifty-nine people have signed a petition against proposed development of the land this time around.