THE developers of a new Gawler East housing development have defended building new homes around one of the town’s most historic properties.

Situated on Calton Road, Fair View House was built in 1909 for early Gawler residents William and Elizabeth Williams and their five daughters.

The property and land went on the market in 2013 after being operated as a small farm since the 1960s.

It is now the site of a new 13-home housing development, which will see new homes built on the property, while keeping the existing dwelling.

The move has angered some residents though, with a petition with 829 signatures calling for the development to be halted.

In response, Hoove Family Trust, the property’s current owners, defended the housing development, saying “significant emphasis” went into protecting Fair View House.

“The way we live in a home has changed – this has increased the need for sensitive urban redevelopment.

“Considering inner urban areas provides a more appropriate use of land, preserves open countryside and is more environmentally responsible.

“The need to access services and communication; and to feel a part of the community has never been stronger.

“The Fair View dwelling’s original orientation has been restored to a westerly aspect, set back from new allotments and presented with a fully exposed vista to the north and northwest adjacent a new public road.”

The petition, posted on Change.org, was launched two weeks ago, stating that Fair View would be “suffocated” by new homes.

A signee to the petition, Patricia Weston, viewed the development with “disgust”.

“You cannot replace majestic, historic homes and land – once it’s done there is no going back,” she wrote.

“Gawler clearly has no pride nor conscience in its historical homes. A house of this significance must not be swallowed up by modern gutter to gutter ‘boxes’.

“Instead it must be preserved (at least the Calton road frontage) and returned to the picturesque Fair View it once was.”

According to the First National Real Estate website, only one allotment of the 13-home development has been sold.