A representation of ‘Tourism Gateway’ and ‘Landmark’ sites in the draft Batemans Bay Masterplan. Photo: via Eurobodalla Shire Council website.
Members of the public, Eurobodalla Shire Councillors and council staff have weighed in on the draft Batemans Bay Masterplan.
An eight-part question on notice submitted by Councillor Anthony Mayne and council staff’s lengthy response were in the minutes of the recent monthly council meeting.
Council staff said that “as part of a general governance overview and due to recommendations included in the draft masterplan relating to the old bowling club site”, council would commission a probity report. They said that report would answer some of Cr Mayne’s questions.
Kathryn Maxwell, president of Southcoast Health and Sustainability Alliance (SHASA), architect Stephanie Chiu, Frank Ross of Eurobodalla Greens, and Brett Stevenson of A Better Eurobodalla welcomed a probity report to address the shortcomings of the draft masterplan.
The four of them each spoke about their concerns over the plan.
These included the entire process that led to the draft, inadequate consideration of risks associated with climate change, the focus on high-rise buildings, and little mention of affordable housing.
The basis for the projection that Batemans Bay’s population would reach 40,000 by 2100 was questioned, as was the plan’s 75-year time frame.
Cr Mayne’s question on notice had covered many of the concerns the members of the public raised in the public forum section of the meeting.
Eurobodalla Shire Councillors with former general manager Warwick Winn. Photo: Eurobodalla Shire Council.
Ms Maxwell said the draft plan on exhibition until 30 June had caused everyone to become obsessed with height limits.
“What we are failing to do is engage with the community about other things,” she said.
The housing strategy should also have been finalised before drafting the masterplan and it did not consider existing council policies such as the Climate Action Plan and Coastal Management Program. “It has been prepared in a vacuum of other strategic plans,” Ms Maxwell said.
Ms Chiu said there were many discrepancies between the masterplan’s original brief in 2023 and the draft plan produced.
Speaking on climate change, Ms Maxwell said insurance would become increasingly expensive for properties on low-lying land such as the area covered by the draft.
Mr Ross said the report had not considered the area’s geotechnical qualities.
“There is 20 to 30 metres of sand and mud which could render the whole plan uneconomic,” he said.
Mr Stevenson said specialist construction would be needed to build high-rise buildings on that type of land. While there were ways to mitigate some of the risk, he asked about the quantum of cost, who would bear that cost and were some trade-offs unrealistic.
Ms Maxwell said there was no evidence high-rise development would contribute positively and it did not fix the shortage of affordable housing.
“More housing does not equate to more affordable housing,” she said. “Increasing supply is one way, but in the right areas.”
Mr Ross said the draft plan had no mandatory requirement for social and affordable housing.
A representation of five key ‘Gateway’ and ‘Landmark’ sites in the draft Batemans Bay Masterplan. Photo: via Eurobodalla Shire Council website.
Ms Chiu asked why the draft plan proposed bringing forward increased height limits 75 years ahead of the projected population growth to 40,000.
She said that projection was counter to NSW Planning’s projection for annual population growth of 1 per cent in regional areas.
Mr Ross said no other council had a planning document that extended beyond 30 years, while Ms Maxwell said shorter duration plans were needed so they had information that was much more predictive. That would help ensure the master plan considered the risks of climate change and low-lying coastal land.
Given council’s conflict of interest as a landowner, Mr Stevenson said the public needed to know the terms of reference for the probity report before it began.
Cr Mayne’s question on notice and the staff response were discussed after the public forum. Cr Mayne talked about the background to the attempted sale of council-owned land that had led the council to “put an indicator into the market of 70 metres, that then went to 80 metres, and then by doing affordable housing it gets to 100 metres”.
“I am so pleased we have a probity report looking at this,” he said, noting “so many significant points that I think fall under governance and probity have been raised today.
“We need to give our community greater confidence in the process.”
When Cr Mayne asked about the probity report and why it was needed in this instance, council’s interim general manager Mark Ferguson said probity reports were best practice and the probity report would look at many aspects including the evidence underlying the plan, the community consultation process, and any gaps.
“In my experience masterplans are always controversial,” Mr Ferguson said. “We do probity reviews to get better outcomes.”
