A northern beaches council in Sydney has found that community concerns that a low-cost housing development will see paedophiles, drug addicts and other undesirables move to the area are unfounded.
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Warringah Council has recommended in a report the boarding house proposal for eight units and up to 13 residents in Cromer be approved.
It noted that of roughly 800 submissions, just 0.12 per cent, were in support of the application.
Fairfax Media revealed earlier this week there had been a massive community backlash against the plans for the small development, including fears the children of the nearby Cromer Public School would be at risk from drug addicts and pedophiles if it went ahead.
"Despite the concerns raised, there is no evidence to substantiate the claims that the development will compromise the social sustainability of the community of Warringah," the report states.
"The provision of affordable rental housing is considered to be in the public interest."
The report also quotes from a NSW Land and Environment Court case involving a development in Baulkham Hills: "The consent authority must not blindly accept the subjective fears and concerns expressed in the public submissions." The council is giving residents a chance to express their views on the boarding house proposal, which is being made under state affordable housing legislation, at a meeting next Wednesday night.
Warringah mayor Michael Regan said he was "disappointed" by some of the comments surrounding tenants of boarding houses.
"I don't share those," he said. "In terms of the clientele, I'm not concerned. I live in a street where there's public housing, a share house and a boarding house." But Mr Regan did have some reservations about public transport access for any future residents of the units, and about on-street parking availability.
He said he didn't want to see a "free-for-all" for boarding house-style developments in areas like Cromer for these reasons.
A community meeting organised by the "Save Cromer" group was scheduled for Saturday on school grounds.
It is unclear whether it will go ahead at that location as a complaint has been lodged with the education department about the school principal, Maureen Gray, using school and taxpayer resources to further the campaign against the development.
Since Fairfax Media published the residents' concerns on Tuesday, information containing support for "Save Cromer" appears to have been removed from the school's website.
The application will be decided by an independent assessment panel following the public hearing.
