Inner city living in Maitland has taken a turn with plans to reverse the dwindling number of residents calling the city centre home.
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Maitland City Council has taken the next step to increase Central Maitland’s population which has experienced a reduction of 4000 residents since the 1955 flood.
Today a total of 1500 people call Central Maitland home compared to 5500 in the early 1950s.
An objective of the Central Maitland Structure Plan is to return the population to 5500 people by 2030. Council planners said this will require the construction of 1300 new dwellings.
Athel D’Ombrain Drive has been identified as a key inner city connection that will contribute to the development of affordable housing in Central Maitland, providing higher capacity in the local road network and improved connectivity.
As a result council has purchased five buildings in High and Abbot streets which it will demolish to make way for road improvements.
In 2013 council secured $11.3million of federal funding to realign and upgrade Athel D’Ombrain Drive as a means to support the development of affordable housing.
The infrastructure is to be designed to improve and encourage the prospect of residential development and to support the provision of inner city developments as an alternative to green field developments across the city.
Councillors voted unanimously at a meeting this week to demolish homes in Abbot Street and a house in High Street.
In a report, planners said the demolition of the buildings is necessary to facilitate the widening of Abbot Street in association with the upgrading of Athel D’Ombrain Drive.
The application for demolition was advertised with one submission received from Maitland and District Historical Society. The society raised issues which council officers said did not warrant refusal or modification of the application.
To ensure the heritage significance of the buildings are appropriately recorded and documented and to provide the community with an overview of the early development of Central Maitland, archival recording of the buildings is recommended prior to demolition, council officers said.