Residents in Black Forest and in Myrtle Bank have quite rightly picked up on a flaw in DPA 2 and that concerns having buffers between zones of significant difference.

The heading of this DPA is Village Living and Desirable neighbourhoods. The plan then sets boundaries that change what is now Village Living and most would say desirable neighbourhoods to something drastically different.

The difficulty many have is that their property had been dealt a double whammy. On the one hand their house is the next property to a new Regeneration Zone with 4 storeys (maybe even 5) next door. Then their property has been converted from a 2 storey 350 m2 per unit property to a single storey 700 m2 per house property.

The difference, from one property to the next could not be greater and therein lies the biggest concern for these people. There is no buffer and one intense density “village” is overpowering the very adjacent and open low scale village.

It is understandable that these people see this as “undesirable neighbourhoods”.