Rodeo Drive residents respond with alarm to Arcadia Estate plan for quiet backstreet to become through-road

Just one resident outright supported the idea, with many telling the Leader they'd bought in the area because Rodeo Drive was a quiet, dead-end street, which they expected to become a cul-de-sac.

Robyn Donoghue said she moved to the large-block estate on Rodeo Drive because "we knew there was nothing up the other end" and learned about the plan in Monday's paper.

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"I don't see why they can't bring it in off the Werris Creek Road, which is a main road and or else off Bergman's lane, it's another main road," she said.

"And this is a nice, quiet street and we've got lots of young families along here and it'd be nice if we didn't have lots of traffic coming up."

The South Tamworth street is slated to serve as a connecting road for the proposed Arcadia Estate.

A report, which recommends expanding the Arcadia Estate from a maximum of 1,670 to as many as 2,350 dwellings, will go before council at Tuesday night's meeting.

It would be home to as many as 5,000 people, plus a commercial centre, a supermarket, and specialty retail, food and drink premises.

According to the council report, the connection is identified in the existing plan for the new estate which was exhibited and adopted in 2017.

"This is not a new element as a result of the current planning proposal," the report reads.

A spokesperson for Tamworth Regional Council said there had been a total of 18 community information sessions held during the public exhibition period for the 2017 plan.

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"Of these, two sessions were held just with residents of Rodeo Drive who voiced their concerns at the time. This is not a new proposal," the spokesperson said.

Of six residents the Leader spoke to, four outright opposed the proposal.

One resident said the area had been advertised to them as a "quiet street" and they were concerned the road wasn't large enough to accommodate through traffic.

"When we bought them, it was always going to be a cul-de-sac from what everyone was led to believe," he said.

"There was never any plans to make it a through road."

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Not every resident thought the development was a terrible idea.

Melissa Wilson, who admitted to being in the minority, said the new shopping centre in the Arcadia Estate would be a major convenience.

At the moment residents head all the way into Tamworth CBD for milk, bread or petrol, Ms Wilson said.

"We really need a shopping centre out this way," she said.

"And also, I don't mind having the access to Bylong Road to get over to Taminda that way because it's like you need to go all the way around."

Resident Paul Pearson said the idea had "lots of positives" and not "too many negatives" - but it would require an upgrade of the infrastructure in the area.

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"Personally I think it's good for the area as long as the infrastructure's around it, as in, are they going to build another school in that area? Are they going to build a shopping centre in that area?" he said.

"Really, it's a small town inside the big city.

"It's not going to interfere with my acre block and the other blocks around, it's just going to mean there's going to be more traffic going up and down the road."

Mr Pearson said council would need to upgrade Rodeo Drive to accommodate the new estate.

The report to council this week recommends amending the Tamworth Regional Local Environmental Plan (LEP) to increase the density of the new suburb to a maximum of 10 dwellings per hectare for the estate, which is planned to be built on the southern side of town near Warwick and Bylong roads, and off Burgmanns Lane.

The report describes it as "one of the key future residential release areas of Tamworth".

The expansion plans were put on public exhibition in early 2022.

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