Green light for new homes and national park expansion in Shoalhaven

Nearly 400 homes could be built in the Shoalhaven and hundreds of hectares of land dedicated to a national park, under a planning proposal approved today.

The Department of Planning and Environment’s Executive Director of Local and Regional Planning Malcolm McDonald said planning rules on land at Callala Bay and Kinghorne Point had been changed to allow development applications to be lodged for assessment.

“The Illawarra Shoalhaven is expected to be the fastest growing region in NSW, with projections showing 68,000 new homes will be needed to support an extra 130,200 people over the next 20 years,” Mr McDonald said.

“This proposal is a demonstration of how we can boost local housing supply by accelerating 380 new homes.

“It’s a win for the environment as well, with more than 500 hectares of private land to be transferred to expand Jervis Bay National Park.

“This will ensure the pristine bushland and more of the Lake Wollumboola catchment remains untouched and managed into the future.”

Other features of the planning proposal include a two-hectare local park to safeguard a community of endangered orchids, better access to a fire trail for emergency services and new footpaths and cycling tracks, while a 20-metre vegetation buffer along Callala Beach Road will be retained.

Mr McDonald said the site had been identified for urban growth in planning strategies and is ideally located close to existing services, but will be subject to further assessment.

“A Development Control Plan will need to be prepared before a development application can be submitted and assessed, in consultation with the community,” he said.

“At that point, issues such as impacts on the environment and traffic would need to be addressed in greater detail, before any construction could occur.”

To view the proposal, visit the NSW Planning Portal.