Penrith Lakes Visual Management Strategy Penrith Lakes Development Corporation August 2009 PENRITH LAKES PARKLAND VISUAL MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
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Penrith Lakes Visual Management Strategy Penrith Lakes Development Corporation August 2009 PENRITH LAKES PARKLAND VISUAL MANAGEMENT STRATEGY Client Penrith Lakes Development Corporation Limited PO Box 457 Cranebrook NSW 2749 Revision Date Description Checked A 27.08.08 Draft issue to client for review CD Prepared by B 10.02.09 Draft issue for client review CD CLOUSTON Associates C 20.05.09 Draft issue for client and John Mulally review CD Landscape Architects • Urban Designers • Landscape Planners D 02.06.09 Draft issue for client and John Mulally review CD 6A Wetherill Street • Leichhardt • NSW 2040 PO Box 44 • Leichhardt • NSW 2040 E 05.06.09 Draft issue for client and John Mulally review CD Telephone (02) 9569 3388 • Facsimile (02) 9569 3523 F 02.07.09 Draft issue for client review CD Email • [email protected] G 14.07.09 Draft issue for client and John Mulally review CD NS 1023 • Issue H • 25th AUGUST 2009 H 31.08.09 Final Report COMMENTS Revision A Draft Issue Revision B Additional photographs added Revision C PLDC and GML suggested revisions incorporated Revision D John Mulally adjustments incorporated Revision E John Mulally further adjustments incorporated Revision F Further revisions incorporated Revision G John Mulally further revisions incorporated Revision H Daryl Kite revisions incorporated PENRITH LAKES VISUAL MANAGEMENT STRATEGY AUGUST 2009 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page Title Page 1.0 INTRODUCTION 4 8.0 REFERENCES 34 1.1 PURPOSE OF THE STRATEGY 4 1.2 SCOPE AND LIMITS OF THE STRATEGY 4 APPENDICES 1.3 METHODOLOGY 4 A - JWP SITE LINE MAP (DA 4 CONDITIONS SITE LINES) 36 1.4 DEFINITIONS 4 B - ANNOTATED SITE LINE SECTIONS 37 C - PLDC LANDSCAPE MANUAL: 2.0 SITE CONTEXT 5 VIEWS TO SIGNIFICANT LAND FEATURES 40 2.1 SITE LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION 5 D - LANDSCAN: MAJOR VIEWPOINTS 41 2.2 HISTORICAL CONTEXT 5 E - BRITTON AND MORRIS: VIEW SURVEY 42 2.3 DISTRICT CONTEXT 5 F - GML: GRADINGS OF SENSITIVITY 42 2.4 LOCAL CONTEXT 5 G - TCM: NATURAL HERITAGE ZONES 43 3.0 PLANNING CONTEXT AND OTHER RESEARCH 6 3.1 PREVIOUS STUDIES 6 3.2 PLANNING CONTEXT 6 3.3 DEED OF AGREEMENT AND DA4 6 4.0 LANDSCAPE CHARACTER 6 5.0 VISUAL ANALYSIS 7 5.1 LANDMARKS 7 5.2 KEY VIEWS AND VISTAS 10 5.3 VISUAL DETRACTORS 11 5.4 VISUAL RECEPTORS 12 5.5 PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT 14 6.0 SITE VIEWS ANALYSIS 16 7.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 32 7.1 CONCLUSIONS 32 7.2 KEY RECOMMENDATIONS 32 PENRITH LAKES VISUAL MANAGEMENT STRATEGY AUGUST 2009 3 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 PURPOSE OF THE STRATEGY Smith Road This Visual Management Strategy has been prepared for Penrith Lakes Development Corporation Limited (PLDC). It forms part of a suite of technical studies that have been undertaken previously which address the visual aspects of the scheme, site lines and visual corridors within the Penrith Lakes Scheme. The purpose of this document is to provide: • An updated version of the DA4 conditions Site Lines; • A review of the previous relevant studies; • Information on other important views within, from and to the Penrith Lakes scheme as identifi ed on site visits; • Recommendations for general visual management across the site and • Any mitigation measures required in future development to ensure critical views are conserved. 1.2 SCOPE AND LIMITS OF THE REPORT This report provides strategic guidance for the entire PLDC site. Importantly this report is an informing document to help guide future restoration and development of the site Yellow Rock and in that respect does not constitute a formal Visual Impact Assessment (VIA), nor Castlereagh Road does it contain any matters for which approval is sought. Boundary of PLDC Scheme The assessments and assumptions made in this report are based on up to date information regarding the Penrith Lakes Scheme proposals at the time of writing. This recognises that PLDC may (but is not committed to) carry out urban development and includes a Old Castlereagh Road possible but not adopted urban development concept, proposed lake and site levels information provided by PLDC and the Biodiversity and Natural Heritage Conservation Masterplan being prepared by Total Catchment Management Services (TCM). Consultation with Aboriginal stakeholders and community members is being undertaken by Jillian Comber and is ongoing. On completion of that study this document will be Cranebrook Nepean River reviewed and possibly revised to include additional important views or vistas and any other important visual connections and features in the landscape. 1.3 METHODOLOGY The methodology adopted for this strategy comprises: • Extensive fi eld investigation work conducted by Clouston Associates on 13 June, 24 June, 15 July, 23 July, 14 August 2008 and 23 July 2009. • A review of the Landscape Manual as prepared by J. Wyndham Prince Pty Ltd Sydney International Regatta Centre refered to in the DA4 conditions to establish where sight lines currently exist. • Review of other study’s visual analysis to determine if sight lines between heritage properties still exist and views to and from them still exist. • Review of site periphery and nearby suburbs to determine the extent of visual receptors and likely views into the site. 1.4 DEFINITIONS Emu Plains The following terms are used throughout the report: Penrith – Visual Receptors are the public or community at large who would have views of the subject site either by virtue of where they live and/or work or Figure 1: Aerial photograph of site and site context from transport routes, paths, lookouts and the like. – Sight lines 1 to 19 are the views identifi ed in the DA4 conditions. PENRITH LAKES VISUAL MANAGEMENT STRATEGY AUGUST 2009 4 2.0 SITE CONTEXT 2.1 SITE LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION The Penrith Lakes Scheme is located in Castlereagh, approximately 55km west of Sydney in New South Wales. The site is 1935 hectares. It is bounded by the Nepean River to the west and Castlereagh Road to the east. 2.2 HISTORICAL CONTEXT Traditional ownership of the Cumberland Plain land covered by this report lies with the Mulgoa clan of the Darug who occupied the land for up to 14,000 years before white settlement (Comber 2008). Archaeological evidence of Aboriginal activity has been found across the site, primarily along the banks of the Nepean River, associated waterways and ridgetops, with the largest cluster of sites found on the sandstone outcrop to the north of the site around the confl uence of Cranebrook Creek and the terraces that ran parallel with the Nepean River (Britton & Morris1999). The quarrying which fi rst began in the Nepean River bed during the 1880’s and subsequently on the fl ood plain from the 1970’s, has dramatically changed the topography and landscape character by the removal of quarried material and through the creation of landscape mounds for environmental and safety purposes. 2.3 DISTRICT CONTEXT The district is characterised by the escarpments, river terrace and the Nepean River. The Figure 2: Nepean River bank within PLDC site Figure 3: Rural legacy of the PLDC site looking towards the Castlereagh Escarpment and the Blue Mountains Escarpment site lies on the fl at Cranebrook Alluvial Terrace on the north-western edge of the Cumberland Plain. The Penrith district is dominated by the Blue Mountains Escarpment to the west and the Cranebrook Escarpment to the east. Signifi cant gorges along the Blue Mountains Escarpment, such as Nepean Gorge to the south west of the site, are defi ning features of the wider landscape. 2.4 LOCAL CONTEXT The local landscape is characterised by the fl at alluvial terrace and associated historic land uses. Due to the rich alluvial soils the area has historically been used for farming since early European settlement. The land uses on the Penrith Lakes site have dramatically transformed the landscape, clearing it of vegetation and reshaping the land including the creation of bunds around existing properties. The local landscape is also characterised by recent remediation work. Figure 4: Penrith Lakes current mining and quarry landscape PENRITH LAKES VISUAL MANAGEMENT STRATEGY AUGUST 2009 5 3.0 PLANNING CONTEXT AND OTHER RESEARCH 4.0 LANDSCAPE CHARACTER 3.1 PREVIOUS STUDIES The cultural landscape of the Penrith Lakes site has been thoroughly investigated by Over the last twenty years or so a range of documents and studies concerning cultural Geoffrey Britton and Colleen Morris’s ‘Castlereagh Cultural Landscape Study’. The heritage and landscape character have been prepared for the Penrith Lakes Scheme. study states that the PLDC site ‘... contains a cultural landscape area of exceptional In some cases these studies have drawn on or expanded upon material in studies that value to Australia, NSW and the City of Penrith.’ preceded them. The key fi ndings relating to visual management are: Documents with the most direct bearing on this study include the : • PLDC Landscape Manual • The Penrith Lakes site contains evidence, through important buildings, layout of properties and sight lines of the early development of a strong • Landscan Landscape Report farming community. • Britton and Morris Castlereagh Cultural Landscape Study • The surviving fabric of the site provides a major research, educational and • Godden Mackay Logan Penrith Lakes Scheme Conservation Management interpretive resource. Plan (Draft) • The location on the Nepean River forms a landscape of particular • Stedinger Associates European Heritage within the Penrith Lakes Scheme distinction. A detailed list of references is provided in section 8 of this report. These reports are • The remnants of Endangered Ecological Communities of the Cumberland referred throughout Section 6 of this document (see the list of abbreviations). Plain vegetation. 3.2 PLANNING CONTEXT Through the management of sight lines and views within the PLDC site, cultural The critical planning documents relevant to this strategy include: relationships and histories can be retained and enhanced.