Before the council meeting on 28 April, supporters of keeping Coopers Island Road open met to present a petition. Photos: Supplied.
Coopers Island Road and a proposed 14-lot Torrens title subdivision at Mossy Point triggered prolonged debate at Eurobodalla Shire Council’s latest meeting and attracted several speakers at the public forum beforehand.
There were so many speakers at the public forum that not everyone could speak, and speakers had less time than usual to address councillors. Five agenda items were deferred to the next council meeting because time ran out.
In the public forum Peter Cormick referred to September 2018 advice from the director of titling and plan services at NSW Land Registry Services to council. It referred them to a specific certificate of title and deposited plan that the director said clearly showed Coopers Island causeway was not part of adjacent private land and appeared to be part of the bed of the Tuross Lake.
Council’s registered surveyor passed it up the line, stating, as he had suspected, any land that formed part of Coopers Island causeway was Crown Land. Mr Cormick asked why council had not shared that advice with Crown Lands in 2018 or more recently.
After discussing the matter in a closed session, council resolved to pursue a GIPA request and meet with Crown Lands to convey the public interest in accessing the waterway and meanwhile council would not proceed with the closure and sale of Coopers Island Road.
In July 2025 council refused a development application (DA) for a 16-lot Torrens title subdivision at Annetts Parade, Mossy Point. The amended 14-lot DA covers 2.06 hectares zoned C4 Environmental Living and C2 Environmental Conservation.
Walbunja man Terry Hill and Max Castle lodge with council the 153-page petition with 1500 signatures to keep Coopers Island Road open.
In the public forum Pamela Green, Linda Chapman and Tim Hodges spoke against the DA saying while it might tick compliance boxes, it did not meet the intent of the C4 zoning of protecting the environmental values. It is home to yellow-bellied gliders and the development proposes clearing vegetation from 70 per cent of the site. Several councillors agreed the DA did not meet the intent of the C4 zoning. Councillors voted to defer a decision until they had more information about the lot averaging clause that allowed so many residential-sized lots in land zoned C4.
They approved the rezoning of land at Reservoir Road, Malua Bay, from RU1 Primary Production and C4 Environmental Living to R2 Low Density Residential and Large Lot Residential R5. The proposal also amended the minimum lot size from 40 ha and 2 ha to 550 square metres and 2000 square metres. The planning proposal seeks to amend the Eurobodalla Local Environmental Plan 2012 to allow low-density residential development near existing residential land and is part of the process for a gateway determination. Before approving it, councillors discussed that some of the lots cannot be serviced by a water reticulation system which is why those lots are zoned R5.
Deputy Mayor Colleen Turner submitted a motion based on a City of Sydney motion calling on the Federal Government to establish a Climate Compensation Fund to support local governments fund climate adaptation, resilience and disaster recovery. It would be funded by a Climate Pollution Levy on coal, gas and oil export companies. Councillor Phil Constable proposed an amended motion that gave “clarity” and removed the “polluter pays” mechanism. The amended motion was passed. Council will support the City of Sydney motion for consideration at the Australian Local Government Association National General Assembly in June.
The long meeting agenda and lengthy debates over some of the items meant that the 2026/27 draft operational plan, draft fees and charges 2026/27 and 2026/35 long-term financial plan received little attention before councillors voted to put them on exhibition.
Mayor Mat Hatcher appeared open to a request in the public forum by Kerri Riches, president of the Moruya Markets committee, for a 40 per cent discount on the charges it pays to council for its weekly market.
Councillor Amber Schutz was opposed to reinstating water and sewerage access charges for secondary dwellings and mixed-use developments at the same level as dual-occupancy developments.
The three reports will be open to public comment from 1 to 31 May.
Also going on exhibition is the Moruya Flood Study and Flood Risk Management Study and Plan. Cr Constable was concerned it would discourage people from submitting DAs for badly needed housing in Moruya, particularly given the new hospital. Council’s director of planning and environment Gary Bruce said the studies and plans were not planning documents.
“It is about emergency preparedness. It is a draft study and not the basis to refuse a DA,” Mr Bruce said. “They are very technical reports. It is the same codes. We have updated the modelling.”
