In February 2014, TRRA made a submission HERE on a Development Application (DA) for a 184 site caravan park on the site of the former Divers Luck winery near the turn off Nelson Bay Rd for Fenningham’s Island. The park would be exclusively for moveable homes for permanent residence.
TRRA objected to the DA primarily because it is yet another example of intensive development on land zoned ‘rural’, any development on which is supposed to ‘retain the rural character’. Moreover, the zone in the new Local Environment Plan (Pt Stephens LEP 2013) expressly excludes ‘caravan parks’. The applicant submits that other factors can be taken into account to override this restriction – we disagree.
The proposal also raises similar issues to those we have taken up on previous DAs, including the suitability of sites a long way from local centres for low cost housing, the overall supply of caravan and mobile home parks in the area, and the adequacy of local infrastructure. We understand that the Rural Fire Service have raised concerns which have been addressed by the applicant. The applicant also met with TRRA representatives in March to discuss concerns that we had outlined at the March General Meeting.
This DA has been ‘called up’ by Councillors for decision by Council in due course, and we await the internal Assessment Report before deciding if we wish to apply to speak at the Council meeting.
17 February TRRA: Submission To Council
