More than 100 residents concerned about two proposed manufactured home estates in Maitland's west gathered on March 17 to "vehemently oppose" the developments.
Windella Action Group organised the meeting at Maitland Aerodrome to voice concerns to councillors and update concerned citizens about the plans before Maitland council, which include a 282 lot manufactured home estate in Windella and a 209 site manufactured home estate on Windella Road in nearby Lochinvar.
The Newcastle Herald reported in February that Maitland council's zoning plan lists caravan parks as being permitted in the zone at Windella, but not manufactured home estates.
However, the state housing policy states that a manufactured home estate may be built on "any land" that allows a caravan park.
This excludes "rural" land that was "not adjacent to or adjoining land zoned for urban use", but the plans state that the adjoining land "could be considered for urban uses".
Windella Action Group chairperson Warren Baldacchino said the main concern about the developments was the potential strain on local infrastructure, road safety concerns, and increased travel times.
"The biggest issue here is if this was beside Rutherford or Farley there actually is support services and public transport," he said.
"But there isn't a lot of services or public transport here, so people are going to have to drive, adding to traffic congestion."
Plans lodged as part of the Windella proposal state that a traffic assessment found the River Road and New England Highway intersection was "capable of accommodating" extra traffic from the development, while the developer argues it will meet demand for affordable housing.
Mr Baldacchino said the action group had 250 email addresses on its mailing list and more than 180 submissions were made to the council about the proposed 282 lot estate.
Submissions on the 209 site estate close on March 18.
Mr Baldacchino said the purpose of Sunday's meeting was to keep residents up to date on the proposals.
"We're really happy with how the meeting went," he said.
"We had three councillors come along. They were definitely responsive to what we had to say."
