Councillors again expressed their frustration over the ban on private briefings. Photo: Karyn Starmer.
The Batemans Bay community will regain access to their purpose-built community centre, the sandstone blocks at Maloneys Beach Reserve will be removed, and a medium-density development proposed in Dalmeny has been approved.
Those matters dominated a recent Eurobodalla Shire Council meeting in which councillors once again expressed frustration that the State Government’s prohibition on private briefings to councillors made it difficult to make informed decisions in the limited time available.
During the public forum Southcoast Health and Sustainability Alliance (SHASA) president Kathryn Maxwell and Margaret Turner, president of U3A Batemans Bay, spoke in support of councillor Sharon Winslade’s motion on notice to reopen the Batemans Bay Community Centre.
It was closed as a bookable community facility in July 2021 and leased until 30 September 2025. It has been vacant since.
Speaking to her motion, Cr Winslade said there were compelling reasons to reopen it. After almost an hour’s debate councillors passed an amended motion for council staff to prepare a further report that examined the associated ongoing and capital costs, among other things, to be presented at council’s September meeting.
A development application (DA) for 49 dwellings at 13 Noble Parade, Dalmeny, on a one-hectare site zoned R3 medium-density residential came before councillors because it had attracted 45 submissions.
During the public forum Dalmeny residents Dan Johnson, Roslyn Johnson and Peter and Jenny Brooks spoke against the DA. They said a development of that scale and density did not reflect Dalmeny’s coastal village character and it would generate too much additional vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
The land was rezoned in 2012. Councillor Rob Pollock said the site had been a paddock for around 40 years. He said the pressures around providing housing across NSW meant councillors needed to do more to provide opportunities for new housing.
“You have to be prepared to bite the bullet when the opportunity presents,” he said. “It is nowhere near the density that could have been inflicted on the site.”
The motion to approve the DA was passed.
The issue of access to Maloneys Beach has been contentious. Photo: NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.
The long-running issue of access to Maloneys Beach Reserve was again in front of councillors. The motion included that based on feedback received, council would not proceed with the vehicular and pedestrian access to the immediate west of the existing toilet block at the reserve that council had resolved in March 2025. Also based on feedback received council would approve removal of sandstone blocks from the eastern end of the reserve while retaining existing beach access restrictions for vehicles.
It has been a divisive issue in the Maloneys Beach community and councillors’ opinions have changed.
An amended motion by councillor Colleen Turner to retain the sandstone blocks with additional signage prohibiting access to the beach until work planned by NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service was complete was defeated.
The original motion, which included allocating $50,000 to improve the amenities at the reserve, was passed.
When discussing the Dalmeny DA, Cr Winslade said the issue of density was locational to her but she had not had time to visit the site and without the benefit of briefings from staff she had to fall back on whatever research she could do online.
Cr Pollock noted her comment when they discussed the draft Batemans Bay Flood Risk Management Plan and Study. The consultants who had prepared the plan and study conducted a workshop for councillors on 19 May which members of the public could observe.
“The information we were provided at the workshop was professional and excellent, but we are being denied that opportunity for other things,” he said. “I think this council needs to put to the local government conference how constraining the current method of assessing or being advised is. It is absolutely hampering and is totally inadequate for councillors to make informed decisions.”
Councillor Mick Johnson asked if the modelling underlying the draft flood risk management plan would be used to assess new DAs received.
Council’s director of planning and environment, Gary Bruce, said council staff ran on the best information available. “We would provide that information to developers and landowners, but we would rely on existing planning controls,” he said. “Draft controls would have little weight because they haven’t been through public exhibition.”
When considering the March 2026 quarterly budget review statement, councillors amended the motion to ensure they continue to receive quarterly income statements for the Bay Pavilions to provide insights into its performance.
