That’s exactly what happened to Nowra residents Diane Milne and Robyn Croker.

The first they heard about a 15 metre high residential unit and commercial space planned next to their properties on the corner of Albatross Road and Kinghorne Street, the former Nowra Mitsubishi site,  was when it appeared on the front page of the South Coast Register.

The four storey residential apartment building, features 57 units and a commercial space.

“We knew nothing about it and weren’t informed by Shoalhaven City Council,” said Ms Milne.

“Council claims to have sent out letters to residents who would be affected by the proposal, but neither Robyn or I received any letters. And we live right next door.

“The first we heard of it was when it was on the front page of the paper and the only correspondence we got from council was dated July 11 [arriving July14] notifying us of a planned rezoning meeting at council’s Development Committee on July 18.

“And as far as I can see it was never advertised anywhere in the papers.

“I was speechless.”

Despite both being against the proposal and Ms Milne raising objections at the meeting, council voted to support the proposal, including rezoning the allowable height from 11 metres in the Local Environment Plan to 15 metres to make the project financially viable.

Ms Milne’s family has lived at the property adjacent to what was formerly the Nowra Mitsubishi site for 52 years, while the Mrs Croker’s family lived next door for 62 years.

Ms Milne said the four storey proposal will wrap around her property, blocking the northern and western sides.

“How would you feel if this 15 metre building was plonked right next to your home?”

“Apart from the financial impact it will have on both our properties, they will both be overshadowed by a four storey building, except for high simmer.

“In winter we hardly get any daylight at all.

“We will also lose all privacy in our backyards. Image having four storeys of units overlooking your backyard?

“In my opinion I believe I think the residents of the central CBD of Nowra should be afraid and terrified if this proposal goes ahead – they could wake up one morning with a four storey apartment block beside their residential home.

“We don’t live in housing estates we aren’t protected from this sort of thing.

“I’m not opposed to redevelopment on the site, just not this.”

She said owner Bill Zervos, of southern Sydney had owned the property for a long time.

“It’s not like he purchased the land specifically for this development,” Ms Milne said.

Mrs Crocker said she couldn’t imagine how the road network in the area, which is already struggling with heavy traffic each morning and afternoon, would cope.

“We often can’t get out of our properties now each morning because of the heavy traffic,” Mrs Croker said.

“Kinghorne Street is a feeder from the highway to the south into the Nowra CBD.

“It is extremely busy every day and then you also have the traffic trying to get down Albatross Road to HMAS Albatross.

“With the additional cars and traffic in the area from the proposal, I just don’t see how the roads would cope.”

She said parking in the area was already an issue.

“There is already not enough car parking on the sides of the roads with just the car service business there,” Mrs Croker said.

“It is horrendous.

“Let alone when another big development goes in. I can see this turning into a shamozzle.

“It is already a bottleneck and it will only get worse.”

Council candidate for the September local government election, Graham French said the proposal “fails the fairness test on every level.”

“I have no problem with the proposal. I think it looks great and would be great for Nowra, but it is just in the wrong area,” he said.

“There wouldn’t be one person who would want a 15m structure next to their homes.

“It is against the LEP and sets a dangerous precedent.

“People may say I’m anti development, I’m not. It is a good proposal, just the wrong place, it needs to be in the Nowra CBD.”

He even nominated a few other locations such a proposal could go like the Stewart Place car park, the site of the old Better Electrical building, or the car park next to the School of Arts.

“Each of those locations could also incorporate underground parking for the community,” he said.

FOR the second time in two months Shoalhaven City Council has voted against its own Local Environment Plan.

Council’s Development Committee voted to support the planning proposal for a $15 million, four storey residential unit and commercial space on the corner of Kinghorn Street and Albatross Road,  increasing the citywide height limit.

In April, council overturned a staff recommendation and approve the $13.8 million Woolworths supermarket proposed for the former John Bull Centre site near the corner of the Princes Highway and Cambewarra Road, again against the Local Environment Plan, that was approved in 2014.

Cr Andrew Guile, who opposed the latest rezoning, said the move to increase the height of the building to 15 metres was “outrageous”.

“While the proposal to change the zoning of the property from B5 business to B4 mixed use is not entirely without merit, the accompanying request to increase the height limit to 15m just for one land holding is an outrageous step too far,” he said.

“Our council has spent years bedding down the Local Environmental Plan into planning law and we argued long and hard for a height limit of 11m.

“Now in one night of Team Gash voting, the precedent is in place that this council will throw out these planning rules.

“The result is that neighbours living in residentially zoned land are facing a five to six storey apartment building right next door that will block out sunlight, particularly in the winter months.

“There is the opportunity with this proposed development to achieve a great outcome that may improve prospects for local residents who are not necessarily opposed to medium density development.  

“However the intensity of 15 metres and five or six stories is clearly over development and without any strategic justification so far from the CBD where there is appropriately zoned land for just this purpose.”

Cr Guile said it was another example of Cr Gash using her numbers to push through a proposal at the expense of residents.

Cr Gash said the proposal would be going through the state government’s gateway process.

“It is not even a DA at this stage as it is going through the gateway process,” Cr Gash said.

“The developers have asked to rezone the area from B5 to B4 for more commercial opportunities. We didn’t want more commercial operations at that location want to keep them in the CBD.

“We moved at the same time and asked them to do a character study on the height of one particular wall that faces the homes in question. We asked if that could be stepped down. They [the developers] don’t have too but we have asked.

“At this stage nothing has gone on exhibition, as it is away with the government waiting on its gateway determination.

“I wouldn’t expect it to go before this council and the residents would have the chance to raise their objections through the submission process.”

Cr Gash said she believed it was a good location for such an project.

“It will clean up that corner area,” she said.

“We need more accommodation like this and the newly built Quest Building.

“But at the same time we have asked the developers to address the overlooking wall. Perhaps there are other options the architects can come up with.

“I can understand the residents’ concerns.

“I have lived in areas where units have gone up next to me. Sometimes you have to live with the changes but we are trying to get changes from the architects.”