A new mixed-use development containing around 200 apartments has entered the NSW planning system for Casuarina town centre.
The proposal covers five lots at 23 Habitat Drive, 13, 14, 16 and 17 Grand Parade and Seaswell Lane, and is being assessed as a State Significant Development through the NSW Government’s Housing Delivery Authority pathway.
The project is proposed to be delivered in two stages and would include about 200 residential apartments together with retail premises, cafes and restaurants, offices and an affordable housing component.
The application is currently at the early planning stage, with the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure preparing the Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements, known as SEARs.
Those requirements will set out the issues the developer must address in a future Environmental Impact Statement before the proposal can proceed to public exhibition and formal assessment.
The Housing Delivery Authority pathway was introduced by the NSW Government to accelerate assessment of major housing projects considered capable of making a significant contribution to housing supply.
The Casuarina proposal is one of a growing number of developments on the North Coast being directed through the State Significant Development system rather than the normal council development application process.
The development site forms part of the established Casuarina town centre precinct, where mixed-use and medium-density development has long been envisaged.
Detailed plans showing the final building heights, apartment mix, parking arrangements, affordable housing component and staging are expected to emerge as the application progresses through the environmental assessment process.
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