Wollongong's Harbourfront Restaurant owners have lodged a request to build a larger deck outside their ground floor tenancy at the Belmore Basin Fishermen's Co-op building.
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According to documents lodged by ADM Architects, the works would be a "minor extension" to the existing narrow deck surrounding the building, which is in Wollongong's state-listed heritage harbour precinct.
In a letter to Wollongong City Council, ADM director Angelo Di Martino said the project would involve removal of the existing deck and bench seating, and construction of new deckings, footing and balustrade.
Architectural drawings show the deck would jut out about three metres from the ground floor windows, and a timber bar bench and glass balustrades are included in the plans.
The seaside restaurant, run by proprietor Angelo Scioscia, undertook a refurbishment of the ground floor in 2013, opening its Level One bar early last year.
A report from Heritage 21 attached to the development application says the extension will "not detract from the heritage conservation area" and "does not exacerbate the intrusive nature of [the building]".
The Fishermen's Co-op, built in 1987, has been a contentious part of the harbour for many years, with many people believing it should be knocked down to make way for something more sensitive to the harbour's historic surrounds.
It is considered "extant" or intrusive to the historic area, according to the heritage report.
A revived harbour precinct - including new buildings, moorings and pontoons - has been in the works for years, but fell off the planning radar in 2012. Talk of revamping the area has re-emerged in recent times, after a raw sewage seep closed the harbour last January and highlighted how run-down the area had become.
The NSW Environment Protection Agency ordered the landholder, NSW Crown Lands, to make a series of improvements to stop any future leaks, including an operations plan for the continued use of Belmore Basin, as well as a contamination assessment for the "Central Pier Precinct".
Crown Lands will also remove the asbestos-riddled slipway workshop, undertake substantial heritage conservation works, install signage and pay $25,000 to Wollongong City Council for a landscape maintenance project for the Wollongong Harbour Precinct.
