Environmental protections and tighter housing controls are proposed for a disputed Hastings Point development site, following a court decision allowing its subdivision.
Tweed Shire Council is seeking public feedback on changes to planning rules for the 17.77-hectare property at 40 Creek Street, north of Cudgera Creek.
The proposal would reduce the residential development footprint, introduce environmental conservation zoning and lower the residential building height limit from 13.6 metres to eight metres.
It follows the NSW Land and Environment Court’s approval of a subdivision on December 2 last year.
The state planning record identifies 13 lots, comprising 11 residential lots, a community lot and a residual lot.
The proposed zoning changes would align planning controls with that approval while strengthening protection for environmentally sensitive land.
One objective is to ‘ensure that environmental values present on the subject site are protected to the highest extent possible’, the state government’s assessment report states.
The property contains coastal wetlands, endangered ecological communities and threatened species habitat. Conservation land is intended to be dedicated to council.
The changes would also introduce a 600-square-metre minimum residential lot size.
The site has been the subject of a longstanding dispute. Council refused the subdivision application in 2023, and residents subsequently raised concerns about flooding, proposed fill and environmental impacts during the court proceedings.
The current consultation concerns changes to zoning and development standards, rather than a new subdivision application. The rezoning has not been finalised.
Public submissions on the planning proposal close at 4pm on Friday, November 13.
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