Our TRRA Planning Sub Committee monitors all D.A.’s of interest submitted to Council and the Department  of Planning and regularly updates Committee Members on current  submissions etc. We thought that this information should be shared with our membership so check on this post regularly to keep up to date on what is going on in your area.

 DA Watch June 2015

Planning update

Residents may be interested to hear of the following recent approvals on major developments on which TRRA made submissions.

Nelson Bay

• 27 Dowling Street, Nelson Bay – former public housing site – 15 detached houses approved (TRRA questioned density and drainage)
• 29-45 Magnus Street, Nelson Bay – redevelopment of Magnus Resort approved in two stages – will be 3 towers with a total of 94 apartments and a 400 seat conference centre. Council media release. TRRA welcomes the redevelopment of this outdated resort and the conference facility in particular will be a major new asset for the area. But we are disappointed that Council allowed a major increase in height on this iconic ridgetop site – the 6-8 storey blocks will be very visible above the treeline when viewed from the Bay.

In Nelson Bay Town Centre, we also welcome the proposed refurbishment of the Seabreeze Hotel and of course the new Woolworths now under construction.  While we still think the latter is a missed opportunity for a more exciting mixed use development, and have concerns about the design, a new supermarket will be a major asset.

We also note that a revised DA has just been submitted for the derelict site at 11-13 Church St – one of two adjoining sites which have been allowed to fall into ugly disrepair over 10 years.  The owners already have approval for a large apartment block exceeding the normal height limit (and higher than nearby developments), but are now seeking more units but in a somewhat lower block.  While it would be good to see this site finally developed, we will be carefully reviewing the plans, which are available online – submissions are due by 17 June 2015.

Anna Bay

Another major proposal is a new application for a 150 room hotel + 219 tourist units on a site at Anna Bay just west of Port Stephens Drive.  A very similar proposal for this low lying site was refused by the Minister back in 2006.  We will be reviewing the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIS) to see how they have addressed the multiple grounds for refusal of the earlier application.  The consent authority for this $230 million development is the Minister/Department of Planning – submissions are due by 7 August.

The “Pulse” – an $18M high Tech tourist development at the Anna Bay local centre, approved in 2014, will provide another wet weather attraction for the area; minor amendments to the original height were approved by Council earlier this year. TRRA hopes that this development will be up and running before too long.

We share the concerns of Anna Bay residents at the disgraceful state of the derelict Birubi Beach Resort site on Gan Gan Rd.  Council seems powerless to require any maintenance.  We continue to urge Council to find a way of ensuring that if approved projects like this and the several prominent ‘holes in the ground’ in Nelson Bay  are started but then run into difficulty, some funds are available to at least make the sites presentable.

Nigel, Geoff & John – Planning Sub Committee