Shoalhaven City Council was investigating the possibility of rezoning a parcel of crown land near the Golf Club at Shoalhaven Heads from residential and public recreation to National Park or Environmental Protection land.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
However, council will recommend to leave the land as it is, following advice from Kiama MP Gareth Ward.
“Given the nature of zoning controls and natural barriers around Shoalhaven Heads Village, I believe the zoning of the land should not be changed,” he said.
“I have received considerable feedback from the community opposed to any de-zoning of the site.”
Council contacted Mr Ward for his input on the suggestion, that had developed from a community petition.
The petition, signed by 480 people, argued there is a rain forest on the land, and many native animals, some endangered, living there.
“We need to preserve and protect the small amount (of forest) that we have,” the signatories said.
Council asserted the land provides the only potential expansion opportunity for Shoalhaven Heads village.
However, rezoning the land would give council the opportunity to develop on other environmentally sensitive sites.
“Should the zoning of the land be changed to an environmental one there is also the potential that a significant number of biodiversity credits could be generated,” council staff said via development committee agenda.
The recommendation, that council take no further action at present in regard to the rezoning of the Crown Land, will be discussed by councillors at the development committee meeting on Monday.