Shellharbour councillors knock back proposal for three nine-storey towers

Though some councillors wanted to see the developer work with council to revise the plan.

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A planning proposal had been put forward for 10,450 square metre block of land on the corner of Shellharbour Road and Ocean Beach Drive, Shellharbour.

The proposal requested several parts of the land to be rezoned, the floor space ratio increased and the building height limits of nine metres to be increased to a combination of 16, 26 and 33 metres.

It would include several nine-storey buildings, including one with restaurant, function centre, gym and 73 serviced apartments.

There is also a four-storey apartment block with 20 residences, and a seven-storey tower of 36 apartments.

Council officers recommended the proposal be rejected because it was "inconsistent" with several council policies, including the Shellharbour Local Housing Strategy , the employment lands study and the local strategic planning statement relating to neighbourhood character.

The recommendation also noted Sydney Water's opposition due to the effect on potential residents of the odours coming from its nearby water resource recovery facility.

"I wouldn't want any potential residents to have to deal with any of those issues, especially pertaining to odour and visual amenity," Cr Kellie Marsh said.

Cr Rob Petreski said he would also support the officers' recommendation to refuse the planning proposal but hoped it would not mean the end of the project.

"I'd like to see the developer work with council officers to see if we can't find some common ground and and achieve some of those things that I suppose the report has highlighted," Cr Petreski said.

"I will be supporting the recommendation from council officers but I do encourage the proponent to come back to council and work with council and see if they can't get some of those things over the line."

Cr Maree Duffy-Moon mentioned her concerns about the shortage of housing in the city and felt this could help address that.

"We have shortage of housing in this region and the longer we delay an opportunity like this is longer we go without housing," Cr Duffy-Moon said.

She too hoped the developer and council officers could work together and resolve issues of concern.

"The location is very desirable for future residents," she said.

"It's on a main thoroughfare, close to a school, close to the beach. It seems to have a lot of good things going for it and I would love to see if we could work together to do what we need to do, which is get more housing."

Cr John Davey expressed concern about the talk of looking for some middle ground, given the range of inconsistencies between the project and council policies.

"I try to be very careful in my use of language," Cr Davey said.

"It concerns me to hear qualified support for the officers' recommendation, with people using words like 'finding middle ground' and 'compromise'.

"I would prefer we use words like 'being compliant with the rules and regulations that we adhere to developing building and our city'."

That issue over words notwithstanding, all councillors voted unanimously to refuse the planning proposal.

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