A giant dirt mound growing on the south side of Bass Point, made from material excavated from the marina project, is causing unease with nearby residents as it increasingly dominates the vista.
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But the companies behind it say they are doing nothing wrong, and are working within planning approvals.
The material is "overburden" - excavated soil and other material - from the Shell Cove Marina project.
It was always the plan to place clean landfill material from the boatharbour excavation as landscape mounds on the Hanson site
- Frasers Property
Shellharbour City Council and Frasers Property are developing the marina, with Coastwide Civil the main contractor.
A Frasers spokeswoman said the mound was about 300,000 tonnes and would add 150,000 tonnes more - well short of what was approved.
"The Shell Cove Project has DA approval to place around 865,000 cubic metres of fill on the Hanson (formerly Pioneer Concrete) site to create landscaped mounds," she said.
She said it had helped "mitigate environmental impacts". "This has been done by minimising spoil removal from site to the landscape mounds, which not only reduces the amount of heavy vehicle haulage trucks on local roads but significantly reduces the carbon footprint of the project," she said.
"It was always the plan to place clean landfill material from the boatharbour excavation as landscape mounds on the Hanson site for acoustic attenuation. Initial agreements to facilitate this were in place between Pioneer and Shell Harbour Council in 1997."
Asked whether it knew about this, and whether it was within planning approvals, Shellharbour City Council consulted with Frasers to get answers.
More than a week later, the council responded, saying the works were allowed.
"The overburden material is consistent with the State Government Part 3A approval granted in 2014," a statement said.
"Council has seen the plans and approvals for the Hanson site, which are available on the Department of Planning website, and the works appear to be consistent with the Quarry State Government approval."
The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment said it was "currently investigating the matter".
The Mercury contacted Hanson for comment but a response was not received before publication.