South West Rocks
KEMPSEY SHIRE COUNCIL - DUNGHUTTI COUNTRY
DEVELOPMENT PROFILE
Consent was granted for an 180-unit tourist resort on this site (Lot 2 DP1091323 on Phillip Drive) in 1993. Consent lapsed for this project in the mid to late 1990s but the developer, Rise Projects, has sought to begin construction on the Zombie DA since 2021 challenging the lapsing of the DA in the Land and Environment Court and even erecting fencing.
The plans will see 4.8 hectares of wetland cleared for a mixed-used residential development called “The Rocks”, including 30 townhouses, 26 apartments, communal amenities and shops and cafés.
WHERE IS IT UP TO?
In 2021 Kempsey Shire Council refused a construction certificate on the basis that the 1993 DA had lapsed. The developers appealed in the Land and Environment Court, but in March 2022 the decision was upheld.
Rise Projects has now submitted a new DA for the site to Council. As this report was going to print, the developer began removing vegetation from the site.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
- Area to be cleared: 4.82 hectares
- Flood risk: The site is a low-lying wetland and floodway. The need to bring in fill to reach the required height for development is likely to place further pressure on an already overburdened water table, pushing water into existing residences.
- There are also concerns that groundwater could be contaminated by Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) from the nearby decommissioned Caltex fuel terminal. These have been detected nearby.
- Several hollow-bearing trees will be cleared if the development goes ahead.
HABITAT FOR:
- threatened Wallum Froglets
- Eastern False Pipistrelle
- Feathertail Glider
- Sugar Glider
- East Coast Freetail Bat
- Little Bent-wing Bat
- Large Bent-winged Bat
- Greater Broad-nosed Bat.
WHO’S FIGHTING IT?
- Voices of South West Rocks