Collaboration can produce the most unexpected results!  The 3/18 public meeting for the development at 13400  and 13424 Keele could not have been more different from the previous meeting 15 months earlier.   Why the change?  During the intervening period the neighbours to the development and the developer worked hard together to find the balance, a balance between two visions originally antithetic.

The McClure Keele Group (MK) (the ratepayers of the current community immediately adjacent to the development site and SigNature (the developer) are to be congratulated on their success.  What a marvellous standard for how infill development can be done.

The negotiations were not focused exclusively on density i.e. number of lots although clearly that was an important factor:  the new proposal is for 18 single detached lots as opposed to the original 49 units (45/4 townhouses/single detached.)  Negotiations were very broad including lot layout, location of homes, vegetation to be maintained, vegetation to be maintained, size and style of homes, key building materials, current site unique features to be maintained (e.g. gabion wall at Keele entrance.)

There is still work to be done on this application before construction can begin but clearly this significant alignment between the two parties is a huge step forward.  You can read the full report here.