It’s been over a month since Casey Council released its draft plans for Manuka Road in Berwick asking the community for its feedback — and while community consultation has closed, some are calling for the approval of the plans to be deferred.
Located on the corner of Manuka Road and Allan Street, the Manuka Road Precinct development plans endeavours to deliver approximately 150-160 additional dwellings to a residential population of about 446 persons, with the precinct yielding a total of 18.76 hectares of land.
The official consultation period ended in early March with locals telling Star News that while they welcome more housing developments in the area, they believe further assessments need to be conducted.
John Roberts, a longtime resident of the area of more than 30 years, said that he doesn’t oppose the proposed developments, but that the traffic assessments outlined in the traffic plans were “poorly thought out”.
“It’s not the fact that they’re developing there. That’s not the problem,” said Mr Roberts.
“160 houses means over 300 cars coming into that block and that’s not taking into account their friends, relatives and visitors and all the associated traffic.
“The fact is that they haven’t catered or sufficiently taken into account the local amenities and the access.”
The same traffic assessment and findings, which was undertaken in 2021 following developing endeavours at that time is currently being used.
With the traffic assessors, Traffix Group, stating in their Traffic Impact Assessment that since June 2021 when the original assessment was conducted, there have been no changes within this Development Plan Overlay (DPO24).
“Additionally, the total number of dwellings/residential lots now proposed is lower than that associated with the earlier development plan associated with the 2021 counts,” it stated in the plan.
“On this basis, the 2021 traffic data is considered appropriate for the purposes of this assessment.”
According to the same 2025 plan, once all dwelling stages are completed, the vehicle trip end (VTE) estimation, which is the movement of a vehicle either arriving or departing from a specific location, will see approximately 1215 daily trip generations.
Mr Roberts questions the traffic assessment process, arguing that fresh and additional reviews need to be taken during peak hours to better understand the traffic and congestion flow through the area, saying that currently Manuka Road is already “always blocked” during after school hours.
He now worries that with the influx of traffic from the Manuka Precinct developments, congestion will be gridlocked and that two streets alone is not enough to mitigate this.
Stage 1 of the developments would involve the construction of 46 dwellings.
According to the draft proposal, Casey Council states that traffic impacts would be managed through staged development, with initial access via Allan Street and a 14-metre internal road, alongside future upgrades subject to further assessment.
It also states that all roads are anticipated to carry less than 2,000 vehicles per day.
“The two tiny, little roads are simply not enough.”
“And they’ve only got two ridiculously small access points for that housing estate.”
“They’ve failed to account for the volume of buses that now use Manuka Road, especially in and out of the high school, and they’ve only got two ridiculously small access points for that housing estate, both of which are on Manuka Road,” he said.
More recently, Anthony Tassone, President of Casey Residents and Ratepayers Association (CRRA) called on the Council to defer the approval of the Manuka draft plans until they addressed and amended some factors.
Like Mr Roberts, the CRRA says the plan fails to adequately address certain proponents related to traffic and pedestrian safety.
It also requests that council require identification of which open expanse will function as “credible open space”.
And subsequently, that these spaces are within the capacity for “meaningful recreation, passive use and safe access, rather than “residual spaces constrained by servicing requirements”.
As outlined in the draft plans, the development intends to provide up to 1.17 hectares of open space.
But Mr Tassone, representing CRRA, says this is simply not enough.
In CRRA’s submission to the council, it also appealed for further clarification of trees and canopy loss impacts as well as clarity on the heritage protection overlay.
“The Development Plan stage is the primary opportunity to ensure that key matters…. are clearly resolved and not deferred to later permit or detailed design stages”, said Tassone.
Following an inquiry made by Star News, Mayor Stefan Koomen said the council had received over 100 submissions and that all feedback will be thoroughly assessed.
“Our community’s feedback is incredibly important, and I want to thank everyone who took the time to share their views on the Manuka Road Development Plan,” he said.
“Council received 141 submissions, and it was great to see more than 70 people attend our two pop‑up sessions, which Cr Scott Dowling and I also attended to hear directly from our community.
“All submissions and feedback will be thoroughly assessed against the relevant planning criteria before the Development Plan is finalised.”
Developers of the project, Parklea Development, says it acknowledges the vast interest in the draft plans for Manuka Road – but that the current plan put on the table sufficiently responds to these matters.
Like Casey, Parklea acknowledges the community interest in the Manuka Road Development Plan and appreciates the opportunity to respond.
On Mr Tassone’s request to defer the approval of the plans however, a Parklea spokesperson said that “it’s important to note that the planning matters raised have been rigorously examined over many years through detailed engagement with Casey Council’s team.
“Many of the key issues were also addressed through a formal VCAT process, which provided clear direction on the requirements to be met,” they said.
“The current draft Development Plan reflects that extensive history of review, refinement, and technical assessment.”
He also told Star News that the revised draft plans adequately addresses the matters raised by both the council and the community.
According to the developers, a key focus of the updated proposal is maintaining the established character of Old Berwick, an area known for its larger residential blocks.
Earmarked for Stage 1, the southern portion of the site, the average lot size is proposed to be about 737 square metres.
Five of the 46 planned lots would be more than 1,000 square metres, a move the developer says is intended to reflect the low-density feel of the surrounding neighbourhood.
The plan also seeks to retain important trees across the site, rather than clearing the land entirely, the layout has been designed to incorporate significant vegetation into the future estate where possible.
Heritage has been another point of attention for many in the community.
The spokesperson said that the proposal acknowledges the presence of Clover Cottage and Minard Villa, two properties of local significance and that Clover Cottage sits outside the developer’s landholding and remains protected under an existing Heritage Overlay — adding that he draft plan is the product of several years of technical studies, consultation and ongoing discussions with Council.
“These elements have been shaped through years of consultation, technical studies and Council guidance, and we are confident the draft Plan represents a balanced and well considered response to the site’s planning requirements,” said the Parklea spokesperson.
“We respect that the Council is now reviewing submissions from the community consultation period and will continue to work constructively with them through the next steps.”
