RRED discovers major proposal for Ettalong foreshore
Central Coast Council has submitted a major development proposal as part of its Ettalong foreshore rezoning application, the Residents for Responsible Ettalong Development group has discovered.
The proposal was made on behalf of a western Sydney developer Parform Pty Ltd to the Department of Planning Industry and Environment.
When Central Coast Council and the Local Planning Panel considered it, the application was listed as a rezoning of land at 43-46 The Esplanade, Ettalong Beach, without any indication of a specific development being proposed.
However, the council has submitted a full planning proposal to the department for a five-storey, 38-unit high-rise block, said Mr Peter Gillis, convenor of the Residents for Responsible Ettalong Development community group.
The 19 documents submitted included development timeline, site plans, retail assessment, traffic analysis, and shadow diagrams.
The submitted documents are accompanied by an 83-page document from the Council planning department supporting the development.
The documents show that the Council has been in discussion with the developer since at least August last year, said Mr Gillis.
The application was only revealed after the Local Planning Panel had approved the rezoning at its June 10 meeting, and not in the meeting agenda disclosed to the public.
At the June 29 Council meeting, administrator Mr. Rik Hart decided to submit the "Gateway Proposal" to the department, despite objections from the residents' group.
Mr Gillis said the administrator told the meeting that the process did allow for full community submissions at that point in time.
The department also had no process for handling public submissions, Mr Gillis said.
He said: "The public will have an extremely limited opportunity to object to this foreshore development."
There would have to be enough submissions to trigger a Regional Planning Panel hearing for them to be considered.
Mr Gillis said a 1500-signature petition against the rezoning had been forwarded to NSW Planning Minister Mr Rob Stokes and the group had made representations to local members, with no response yet.
The planning proposal was sent to the department on September 13, and was listed for consideration October 22.
Mr Gillis said the full extent of the proposal was only revealed when the residents' group asked the department for information on the Council submission.
The department subsequently posted all Council documents on its website on Thursday, November 4.
The documents were withdrawn from the department website on about November 12, but have been saved by residents and are now available at http://bit.do/Ettalongforeshore.
The submitted plans show a ground floor occupying most of the block, three levels of 10 units each, and a top floor with four large units.
Mr Gillis said: "The concept is two towers, but it appears as a high rise unit block with a chasm in the centre, at the base of which is a swimming pool.
"The pool will see little sunlight in summer, and the centre chasm will be a wind tunnel in winter.
"The shading diagrams show a complete shadow over the beach to the water line in mid-winter."
SOURCE:
Media release, 19 Nov 2021
Peter Gillis, RRED