Swaths of Rosehill racecourse, a future site for a “mini-city” of 25,000 new homes and metro station, could be inundated during major flooding events, with some areas considered “unsafe for all vehicles, children and the elderly”, modelling undertaken on behalf of the department of planning shows.
Another recommendation supported in principle by government called for enabling “high density flood-resilient precincts to locate more development at or above the PMF and use a higher flood planning level to avoid catastrophic costs from extreme flooding, as well as deliver cost-effective controls for individual structures.”
Hemmed in between the Parramatta River and the Duck River, the Camellia-Rosehill place strategy noted in August 2022: “The precinct is subject to flooding from multiple sources.” “Any future proposals for residential development would be subject to a merit-based assessment, which would take site conditions and any proposed mitigation into consideration,” she said.An ATC spokesman said flooding was not a risk to the racecourse: “In more than 150 years of racing at the site there has never been any major flooding around or across the racecourse.”
“A co-ordinated approach to address flooding challenges is required to ensure that future development is compatible with the flood behaviour, hazard and risk, including consideration of flood emergency management,” the report said. Because of the objections, the department referred the project to the NSW Independent Planning Commission as a state significant development.