Maitland’s residential heart may soon be beating again with a council plan to return 4000 residents to live in the city centre.
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Concerned about Central Maitland’s dwindling population, council has taken the next step to secure more affordable housing.
Today a total of 1500 people call Central Maitland home compared to the 5500 people who lived there prior to the 1955 flood.
Central Maitland extends from Long Bridge to High Street railway bridge in the east, to the south along the railway line and north along river including Horseshoe bend.
An objective of the Central Maitland Structure Plan is to return the population to 5500 by 2030, which 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 purchased five buildings in High and Abbot streets, which it will demolish to make way for road improvements providing another easy access point to the city centre.
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.
Mayor Peter Blackmore said he met earlier this week with a developer keen to build more affordable housing in Central Maitland.
“This is not to be confused with low cost or government housing,” he said. “Council has been proactive in dealing with developers and there is a fair amount of interest to build more properties.
“Of course there are issues with it being flood prone and these premises will have to be built up. A fair bit of engineering work will be required,” he said.
The mayor said those who already live in Central Maitland have a right to be proud. “It’s a great location with access public transport, shopping, supermarkets, parks,” he said.
The mayor said there is still plenty of land available for these types of developments either on council or privately owned lots.
Fairfax Media reported in February this year how the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle was in the final stages of building nine new affordable homes in Central Maitland.
