Ettalong planning proposal to lift building heights for 43-49 The Esplanade

A proposal to lift building heights for a row of Ettalong Beachfront properties will bookend development in the area’s “no man’s land” and inject $30 million into the town.

A planning proposal, years in the making, will go before Central Coast Council’s meeting on Tuesday night where it is expected to be endorsed.

The proposal seeks to lift the maximum building heights for the old Ettalong Beach Motel and other properties from 43-46 The Esplanade from 11.5m, or about three storeys, to 17m or about five storeys.

It also seeks to increase the floor-space-ratio (FSR) of 1:1 to 1.75:1.

The proposal seeks to amend the Gosford Local Environmental Plan (LEP), which was adopted in 2014 and saw the seven affected lots effectively cut out of the same planning controls in place for Ettalong’s CBD.

A proposal will go before council to increase the building heights for a number of waterfront properties on The Esplanade including the old Ettalong Beach Motel. Picture: Google

They were capped originally under the Gosford LEP to limit overshadowing of the beach and open space and to preserve water views from other B2 zoned land.

However Peninsula Chamber of Commerce president Matthew Wales said those controls were redundant given the approval of the seven-storey Atlantis development next door, the approval of a boutique apartment block and the five-storey Ettalong Hotel behind the lots.

Mr Wales said the development of the site was “vitally important for Ettalong” and filled in the missing link or “vacant no man’s land” on the foreshore between the Mantra Hotel to residential housing east of Picnic Pde.

The affected properties next to the recently completed Atlantis shop-top development at Ettalong Beach. Picture: supplied

He said concept plans were for a five-storey shop-top housing development with retail on the ground floor and about 40 high-end apartments, which he said would inject about $20-30 million into Ettalong’s local economy.

“From the chamber’s perspective this is a great foundation for Ettalong to emerge as the pre-eminent tourism destination on the coast,” he said.

Peninsula chamber president Matthew Wales supports the proposal.

A report to the council’s meeting, which recommends council endorse the proposal before sending it to the NSW Department of Planning for a Gateway Determination, states the Local Planning Panel also endorsed the proposal earlier this month with a range of conditions.

“The request to amend the maximum building height, FSR and consolidation of lots is

considered to have strategic merit, as it allows infill development in an area that is supported

by existing infrastructure and at a scale that is consistent with surrounding development,” the report states.

The proposal will see Ettalong’s vacant `no man’s land’ developed into high-end apartments with a commercial ground floor. Picture: Google