WITH the Burradoo River Park proposal dead in the water and a decision on Moss Vale Aquatic Centre imminent, the Wongabri group has returned with another project idea that is set to send swimmers into a spin.
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Realising its original proposal to build an Aged Care Facility and Leisure and Cultural Centre at Burradoo River Park was never likely to be approved, it has now offered a land swap with Wingecarribee Council for Eridge Park.
The group has proposed to build an aged care centre on Eridge Park and, in return, it would hand over its Wongabri property on Moss Vale Road to the council and upgrade Mittagong Pool.
The pool would be turned into a "state-of-the-art wet-and-dry leisure facility" featuring all the bells and whistles and would then be handed back to the council after a set period of time.
The sporting facilities that now occupy Eridge Park would be transferred to the Wongabri property, becoming Wongabri Recreational Park, offering a host of outdoor facilities.
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These included a velodrome, two football fields, five netball courts, a multi-use oval, outdoor theatre, bike paths, more than 3km of bike trails and walking paths, picnic area, children's play area, cafe and a river pontoon.
Eridge Park is zoned as RE1 Public Recreation and classified as Community Land.
Council will vote today on whether to submit a Gateway Determination to the Department of Planning to find out if an aged care facility could be built on the park.
If the developer, council and department are all satisfied the proposal should proceed, then it would go out to the community for consultation.
Cr Larry Whipper said he wasn't sure the community would support the idea of giving up Eridge Park.
"It appears as though the upgrade to Mittagong Pool is a bit of a softener for the proposal to get an aged care facility built at Eridge Park," he said.
"I do see the new proposal as having more merit (than the Burradoo River Park proposal), but the biggest obstacle for me will be the community reaction to the land swap.
"Eridge Park is community land and until I get any direction from the community that the majority would be prepared to give that up, I'd be really loath to support it."
The aged care component offered retirement through to special needs dementia facilities and would be unrolled over a 10-year period.
Proponants Bureaucracy Busters said the design of the buildings and courtyards would be inspired by 1860's Bowral
"We envisage addresses in beautifully designed streets; none of the wiggly worm streets we associate with new seniors living developments will be allowed here," Bureaucracy Busters' Darren Hogan said in the Planning Proposal.
"We looked at Regent's Park in London, the Grand Terrace and Circus in Bath, and the Place Vendome in Paris as inspiration for the grand courtyard, which forms the heart of the development.
"This heart will have all the facilities you can imagine: cafe, retail, community, swimming and spas, gymnasium, croquet, and wonderfully 'English' gardens."
If the proposal gets off the ground, it would save the council more than $2 million that needed to be spent on installing a new flexible membrane liner for Mittagong Pool.
