![A look at the townhouse and apartment development proposed for bushland at Farmborough Heights. Picture by Drew Dickson Architects A look at the townhouse and apartment development proposed for bushland at Farmborough Heights. Picture by Drew Dickson Architects](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/4FavSveeQdYEHssZq5umRQ/1a0b0b01-6f25-4284-969a-df5380b0a3c9.png/r0_0_1035_582_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A mix of townhouses and apartments could be built in bushland at the end of a suburban Farmborough Heights Road.
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A development application for the 18-townhouse and six apartment plan at the end of Ribbonwood Road has been lodged with Wollongong City Council.
The statement of environmental effects submitted as a part of the application said it would be a two to three-storey development but did not give a breakdown of the number of bedrooms in each townhouse and apartment.
It would include 53 parking spaces for residents and five for visitors.
The lot at the end of Ribbowood Road is 20,500sqm, however the development would be build on just 4025sqm of the site.
"Due to significant site constraints, 'traditional/typical' residential subdivision is not viable nor realistically possible without significant site reshaping," the statement of environmental effects said.
"Such site works, required for a residential subdivision, would result in significant undesirable environmental impacts.
"Hence, this proposal seeks to minimise site disturbance by restricting the development to the southwestern portion of the site, with the vast majority of the site remaining as is."
Due to the topography of the site, there are issues with complying with the nine-metre height limit.
It breaches that limit by between 150 millimetres to 3.385 metres in various places.
Subsequently a variation request has been lodged.
"It must be noted that exceedance occurs only over a portion of the development and such exceedance is restricted to the northern and north-eastern portions of the proposed buildings, separated from neighbours," the exemption request stated.
"In fact, the height exceedance overlooks the significant undeveloped portions of the site and will not be visible from the public domain or neighbouring premises."
The site is identified as bushfire prone land and a report said it complied with the Rural Fire Service's Planning for Bush Fire Protection document.
"The existing public roads provide adequate access and egress for emergency response and evacuation purposes," the report stated.
"The development has been designed to allow a fire appliance to enter the site for fire-fighters to access the asset protection zone and dedicated hydrants at the interface."
A traffic study noted the 24 dwellings would not have an impact on peak-hour movements.
"The traffic generation of the proposed development has been estimated to be some 15 trips in the AM peak period (three in, 12 out) and 15 trips in the PM peak period (12 in, three out)," the report stated.
"This level of traffic will have no adverse impact on any nearby intersections and can be readily accommodated within the existing road network with minimal impact in terms of traffic flow efficiency and road safety considerations."
The development application is on exhibition until July 31.