Shoalhaven councillors shelve Callala Bay redevelopment over ‘grave’ flood concerns

Councillors have traded barbs over plans to rezone more than 1100sqm of bushland opposite Jervis Bay National Park for residential use. Here’s what they had to say.

Plans to rezone more than 1100sqm of bushland opposite Jervis Bay National Park for residential use have faced pushback from local councillors who have expressed “grave concerns” about the risk to homes from flooding.

As many as 20 dwellings could be built opposite Wowly Creek at Sealark Rd in Callala Bay, south of Nowra, according to the development application which was first submitted to Shoalhaven City Council by Hare Bay Consortia more than three years ago.

At its ordinary session on June 27, councillors aired concerns about building homes on a floodplain in the wake of widespread flooding in March 2022, which inundated homes in nearby St Georges Basin and instigated evacuation orders for Sussex Inlet.

“I’ve got grave concerns in what I look at in the flooding study,” Councillor Patricia White said.

“We can say we are going to do all the things in the world to protect the site from flooding such as occurred in St Georges Basin, but it continues to happen, time after time. I cannot supported the planning proposal to go ahead in its current form.”

Councillors further argued that the Wowly Creek, not being free flowing, could face a drop in water quality as a result of the project, and would require extensive work to widen and deepen the channel – future maintenance of which could fall on the council.

While the council and its staff were largely opposed to the project, the proposal was initially supported when it was first submitted in early-2019, but faced pushback from state government regulators over planning laws and concerns around flooding and water management.

As many as 20 dwellings could be built opposite Wowly Creek at Sealark Rd in Callala Bay, south of Nowra, according to a development application.

A gateway determination first carried out in May 2019 required several further technical studies and assessments to be carried out by Hare Bay Consortia prior to any public exhibition of the plans, according to council documents.

After lengthy delays, those studies were completed in May 2021, falling outside the regulated two-year window.

As a result, the NSW Department of Planning and the Environment requested a subsequent gateway assessment be undertaken.

At the council session, Councillor Evan Christen moved a motion for that gateway determination be refused, stating that the land had not been identified for residential development.

“The project sits entirely outside the planning strategy for the Jervis Bay area,” Cnr Kristen said.

“We shouldn’t be promoting these kinds of ad hoc rezonings that don’t align with a strategy.

“Otherwise, what is the point in having a long-term strategy.”

Condemnation wasn’t unanimous, though.

Councillor Greg Watson expressed disappointment at the debate over the issue, stating that it was a result of the state government’s shift in planning policy that the project, which was initially supported, was again before the council.

“If you just pull the rug out on the developer, we’re going to be sending a really bad message to Shoalhaven as far as it being open for business,” he said.

Wowly Creek, Callala Bay.

As many as 20 dwellings could be built opposite Wowly Creek at Sealark Rd in Callala Bay, south of Nowra, according to a development application.

“You can’t treat people like that and expect them still to come back and carry out the types of development that we will need to have.

“If we carry the motion to further support the exhibition or the gateway, that doesn‘t mean to say we’re going to rezone it, but it does allow the applicant and the community to see all the work, all your environmental studies.

“Some 60 or 70 per cent of the consultation work has been done, why not let them finish?”

Councillor John Kotlash echoed those sentiments, stating that the vote was not to determine the development of 20 homes in Callala Bay, but was aimed at providing more information to the public through the gateway.

“I find the whole concept of denying the public access to the facts, which this recommendation of staff puts to us, very demeaning and diminishing to our community,” he said.

In response, Councillor Liza Butler said she was not “anti-development”.

“The big thing for me is that we could be allowing a development that could be detrimental in the future,” she said.

The motion to deny the gateway passed with support from councillors Kotlash, Norris, Butler, Christen, Gray, D’Ath, White, and Mayor Amanda Findley, but was opposed by Copley, Watson, Kitchener, Wells, and Ell.