Sandy Beach: 113 housing subdivision rejected by Northern Regional Planning Panel

A community activist has called for a lasting solution after a controversial subdivision at Sandy Beach was rejected by an independent panel. Find out why.

A 113 residential lot development site for Sandy Beach has been denied by the independent Northern Regional Planning Panel.

A controversial housing project proposed on a flood plain has been rejected at Sandy Beach on the Coffs Coast after months of community protests.

The $13m low density 113-lot housing subdivision proposed by Elite Constructions was unanimously refused by the Northern Regional Planning Panel (NRPP).

“Thankfully, the planning panel listened to the community and applied some common sense,” Sandy Beach Action Group (Sandbag) spokesman Dr Peter Quiddington said.

“This was a development application (DA) that never should have been.”

In rejecting the development on April 29, the panel considered written submissions and individuals who addressed the panel.

Residents of Sandy Beach protested against the proposed 113 lot housing development.

The NRPP noted concerns including flood and stormwater impacts on neighbours, the likely adverse construction impacts on Hearnes Lake and impacts on biodiversity, suitability and capability of the existing road system to accommodate the additional traffic, increased densities and lack of public services.

A recommendation from the City of Coffs Harbour to refuse the DA was also taken into consideration.

Residents of Sandy Beach gathered to rally against the controversial subdivision.

Hearnes Lake near Woolgoolga at the northern end of the proposed development.

Dr Quiddington said the continued attempts to develop the site had to stop.

“The only lasting solution is for this land to be purchased by the government to become a protected zone,” he said.

The development was sought on land between Ti-Tree Rd and lot 15 and 17 Pine Crescent, adjacent to Sandy Beach, up to Double Crossing Creek in the north, close to Hearnes Lake.

It covered almost 50 hectares of land classified as coastal wetland and littoral rainforest.

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